The Mode
by Rikku-Hoshi
Summary: Yuna is ecstatic when she & her friend are granted internships at The Mode, a popular magazine that she dreams of working for someday. She's not so ecstatic, however, to find out that her first task is to somehow interview a secretive blitzball player.
1. The Internship

Why hello fanfiction world! Here I am, with yet _another _fanfiction! I honestly wasn't going to post this yet, but it's late and for some reason, I feel like posting it already! But before I let you get to reading it, I'm going to bore you all on the _first _chapter and give you some background information! Yay, right?!

I got the idea for this story while I was... um, procrastinating, actually. You see, I was supposed to be writing up an interview (with a certain special someone. XD) that I had to write for a contest, when the idea for this story struck. And so, I decided to write it.

Now, this is the kind of story that I've wanted to write for years. It has a lot of things in it that I think I have used more and more in my fanfics, but this one is different in the fact that you'll realize pretty early on that Yuna is a stronger character than what I usually make her. (Or... maybe not. Haha, it all depends on your interpretation.) Also, I looove magazines. I want to work for one someday! (Maybe. I have like a hundred dream jobs right now...) But seriously, _The Mode_ is pretty much my dream job... but yeah, I'll stop blabbing and let you read the story already, before I ruin it all or something!

Oh, and also, this is my first fanfic in years that is written in first person POV. It's all told from Yuna's POV. No Tidus. No no one. Just Yuna. I started out in third person, or whatever it is, and I actually wrote the whole first chapter (minus the end) in third person. BUT, it was impossible to write for complicated reasons and it took me waaaay longer than needed. SO, if there's anything off about POVs, that's why. I apologize. I'm a horrible editor, so my work is probably never perfect. Again, I apologize...

ALSO (I know, I know, I said I'd stop blabbing!) I might not be able to update this as often as I'd like. (I like to update every-other-day, _especially _in the summer.) I currently have two jobs (okay, so one of them is only 8 hours a week and the other is teaching tennis...) that are rather demanding, so I'll write when I can. I'm about halfway done with chapter 2 as I write this. I like to be completely done with a few chapters before I post a new story, but I decided to make an exception for this one...

Anyway, now that all of that is taken care of (oh, and I'll throw a disclaimer too: I own NOTHING. (but the plot and the words. I can own that, right?) If I did, I'd be making movies, not fanfictions) I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Internship**

My fingers were moving as quickly as they possibly could. It was hard to send a text message though, for my hand was shaking too much. I was holding my phone out in front of me with my right hand, my fingers pushing the keys madly. In my left hand, I held a letter that I had just opened.

_Dona, we got the internship. _With my smile growing, I hit the green button to send the message, and let out a little squeal of happiness. Then, I fell over onto my back, and stared at the high ceiling above me. We had done it. We had won.

I sat back up and crossed my legs on my pink comforter of my bed, and then began to go through my contacts. Telling Dona was easy. Dona would be just as ecstatic as I was. It was telling my boyfriend that would be the difficult part. But he would just have to understand.

My bottom lip curled underneath my front teeth as I waited for him to pick up. The dial tone rang loudly in my ear, and seemed to echo within my brain. Finally, I heard his voice as he said, "Hello Yuna."

"Baralai!" I yelled out, before remembering that I had to hide my excitement. "Um, I mean, hey."

"Um, hey," he said, sounding a little confused on the other line, since I hadn't exactly been the smoothest in hiding the excitement that was bubbling within me.

"Hey," I simply said again. "Um, are we still on for dinner tonight?"

"Of course," he said. "We have a lot of things we have to plan."

"Right…" I said, and my lip curled back under my teeth. "Um Baralai, something has actually come up."

"Did you decide to take that summer class after all?" Baralai didn't bother to hide his annoyance. "I told you, Paine doesn't know what I's talking about."

"No-No, it's not that," I said quickly. "Do you remember back in January how Dona and I applied to be interns for _The Mode_?"

"Yeah, I remember. Didn't you two apply to a lot of interns? And you got that one in Luca."

"Yeah, I did get that one in Luca," I said, my voice growing soft. "But the one I really wanted was with _The Mode_. And I… I found out today that Dona and I got it. They want us to come as soon as possible Baralai!"

Baralai was silent. As expected. My lip once again found its way under my teeth.

"Where's that at?" Baralai asked.

I swallowed loudly. "Zanarkand."

"Zanarkand?" Baralai cried, his voice rather loud in my ear. "Yuna, what about all of our plans?"

"I know Baralai but this is such a fantastic opportunity! This is _the _magazine, Baralai! This is what I've dreamed of! You understand, don't you?"

"But what about Luca? We have an apartment and everything!"

"I know," I said, flopping onto my back. "But… I want this so much."

Baralai was silent again. The only thing breaking the silence was a beeping noise, signaling that Dona was undoubtedly trying to call. Dona was just going to have to wait.

"When will you leave?" Baralai said, his tone completely emotionless.

I swallowed again, and said, "As soon as possible. Tomorrow maybe."

"Tomorrow?" Baralai said, his voice growing loud with every word. "What am I supposed to do? Just go to Luca like planned? I can't back out on my intern."

"No, of course not!" I said quickly, and I sat back up again. "You'll have to go to Luca, of course."

"While you're all the way in Zanarkand?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"So that's it then? Our summer together is just over? Just like that?"

"Baralai, you have to understand," I said, and I found myself attempting to make my voice a little more babyish, perhaps a little more convincing. "I've wanted this for so long. If they like me, they'll hire me when I finish school! It's my dream job, Baralai!"

Baralai must have grown a little more relaxed, for he let out a loud sigh, and said, "Of course I understand, Yuna. I'm just… I'm just disappointed."

"I know, me too," I said, glad that it seemed as if I was getting somewhere. "But we can still see each other, right?"

"Yeah, I get a week off sometime," Baralai said.

"You'll have to come visit me!" I said, my voice growing higher in pitch due to excitement. And not just because Baralai was going to come visit me, but because I knew I was finally getting his understanding. Knowing that he supported me would just make me even happier than I already was about the internship.

"I will," Baralai said. He still didn't sound completely happy or convinced, but I knew he would get over it.

"So, um, are we still on for dinner?" I asked.

"You'll probably need to pack and stuff, won't you?" Baralai said, his voice sounding much less happy than mine. "How about I'll get take-out somewhere and bring it to you? I can help you pack and stuff then."

A small smile grew on my lips, and I said, "That'd be great."

"We can talk more then," Baralai said.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"Talk to you later then."

"Yeah. Bye. Thanks for being understanding, Baralai."

"Hey, this means a lot to you," Baralai just said, and I wondered if he was trying to convince himself that it was the right thing for him to do.

"It does," I said, deciding to just be agreeing. It _did _mean a lot to me, anyway.

"Okay, I'll see you later then."

"Yeah," I said a smile growing on my lips. "Bye."

"Bye."

I hurriedly hung up with him, and instantly called Dona, who was not only one of my roommates, but also my best friend.

"Yuna, it's about time you answered!" Dona's voice shrilled in my ear. "Are you serious? We really got the internship? Both of us?"

"We did!" I cried, glad that I could finally share my excitement with someone. "We can leave as soon as possible."

"Yevon, I can't believe it!" Dona said, her voice still shrilling. "I'm coming home right now! So what took you so long to answer? Were you talking with the boyfriend? I bet he's pissed."

"Well, he's not very happy," I said, sighing, although my smile didn't fade. "But he just has to understand. I can't turn down this opportunity!"

"No, you so can't!" Dona said. "Just think… a whole summer in Zanarkand, working for Spira's hottest magazine! It's going to be like a dream!"

"I know!" I agreed, as I flopped onto my back again.

"Still, I can't blame Baralai for being a little upset. I mean, you two were going to live together in Luca for the summer and everything. You really want to pass that up?"

"Of course," I said, sitting up again. "This internship means everything to me. And yes, it does ruin a lot of Baralai and my plans, but we have plenty of time. Like the rest of our lives."

"Very true," Dona said. "And this is a once-in-a-life opportunity!"

"Definitely!" I agreed. "I cannot believe we got it!"

"Me neither!" Dona's voice was again shrill in my ear. "Read the letter to me! What does it say?"

"It says," I began, "'Congratulations! We think the two of you would make an excellent addition to our team as summer interns. We would like for you to come to Zanarkand as soon as possible, and once you arrive, we will show you where you will be staying, as well as give you your first task! Signed, Leblanc."

"Leblanc!" Dona screamed, and this time, I really did have to pull the phone away from my ear. "As in _THE_ Leblanc?"

"I suppose so," I said, laughing. "She is the head of _The Mode_, after all."

"Yevon, this is so exciting!" Dona just said. "I just can't believe we got it… I thought for sure we didn't make it."

"Yeah, me too, obviously," I said, and I gave a little, nervous sounding laugh.

"Yeah, so what did Baralai say? He's not dumping you or anything is he?"

"Oh please Dona, Baralai and I wouldn't break up over something like this! He's just disappointed, that's all. And, rightfully so, really. I mean, we had so many plans… we'll have to cancel all of them."

"Not to mention Paine and I will have to cancel our bet on when you two are going to get engaged…" Dona muttered.

I simply rolled my eyes at this remark, and said, "You know we wouldn't even think to get married until after we graduate."

Dona just laughed, and I said, "Well, I'll be there soon. I guess we have a lot to do tonight, huh?"

"Yeah," I said. "See you soon."

"Bye."

With that, I hung up, and looked at the letter that I was still clutching in my hand. Everything I had ever wanted was literally in my hand. For as long as I could remember, I had wanted to work for a magazine, and since I was at least thirteen, I'd dreamed of working for _The Mode_, Spira's _only _magazine for women, by women. I'd grown up reading _The Mode: For Girls_, and then I'd moved on to _The Teen Mode_, and finally _The Mode_. My dream was to someday work for them.

As I stood up off of my bed however, realization hit: I would be leaving in less than twenty-four hours. My stomach clenched. How was I going to pack up everything in less than twenty-four hours! I had so much to do!

"I don't even know where to start," I mumbled to myself as I glanced around my organized bedroom. I sighed, and went to my closet, and pulled out my large suitcase. At least that was a start.

I heard the door open, and it wasn't long before Dona appeared in my doorway.

"Yuna, what are we going to do with this place? I thought I'd be spending the summer here!"

"Paine will just have to take care of everything," I said with a shrug.

"And we'll still have to help pay the bills and everything on it? That sucks."

"Well, we get our lodgings and everything paid for in Zanarkand, so I guess it's just a trade-off we have to take."

"Yeah, I guess," Dona murmured. "So what all are you packing? I'm thinking we're going to have to go shopping as soon as we get to Zanarkand. Well, as soon as we get settled and everything. So what do you think our first task will be?"

"Probably something silly," I said with a laugh. "Like making coffee runs, or making copies—you know, typical intern stuff."

"Well I hope we get to do something more fun than that," Dona said, and I walked over to my bed and picked up the letter. "I still can't believe we got it. I'm still in denial."

"I think I am too," I laughed.

"So what time are we leaving?" Dona asked. "Have you told Paine yet?"

"I haven't," I said. "Where is she, anyway?"

"I'm not sure," Dona said with a frown. "Was she still trying to get you to do that summer class with her?"

"Yeah," I said, a smile on my face. "Good thing I definitely have a good excuse now!"

"Paine's going to be jealous!" Dona cried, and with that I started toward the door. "So what time are we leaving tomorrow?"

I looked thoughtful, before I finally said, "Do you think we'll be ready to go sometime early afternoon?"

"Oh, I'll be ready!" Dona just said, and with a quick smile, she disappeared toward her own room. I simply smiled, and turned back to my suitcase. I did, after all, have a lot to do.

-

"So you're really going to Zanarkand?" Baralai said, his voice soft.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm all packed and ready to go. Dona and I are going to have to do some shopping when we get there though."

"I really don't know if this is such a good idea, I. I know this means a lot to you, but Zanarkand's a big city. It's dangerous, it's…"

I laughed. "Baralai, please! I'll be just fine!"

"It's just so sudden and unplanned Yuna. Does your father even know about it?"

I's stomach fell. My father…

"No, but I couldn't tell him. You know he doesn't support my journalism major, let alone this career field."

Baralai laughed, and said, "That's true. And you know I wouldn't either, if you weren't so passionate about it. Not to mention a journalist genius."

I laughed. "Please, I'm not a journalist genius!"

"You've been the editor of the school newspaper since your freshman year, you've been published in at least ten magazines and journals… how are you not a journalist genius?"

"Well let's hope I can be a "journalist genius" at this internship. Because I think if they like me, they'll keep me. So I have to really impress them."

"Would you really want to live in Zanarkand though?" Baralai questioned.

"You know, I've actually never been there," I admitted then.

"Seriously?" Baralai asked. "Well, you're not missing much. All that's there is blitzball and big buildings."

I laughed. "That's not what Dona said. I said it was by far Spira's trendiest city, with constant excitement."

"Dona's just over-optimistic," Baralai said with a smile on his lips.

"Yeah sure," I said, giving him a light shove. "You're just jealous because I'll be in Spira's trendiest city while you're in Luca!"

"Oh yes, I'm so jealous that you'll be trendy while I'm relaxing on the beach."

I just laughed and said, "You do understand why I have to do this, right?"

"Of course," Baralai said, smiling at me. "I've known all along that your career is the number one thing on your mind."

I smiled and turned to him, only to feel my smile disappear. Baralai was looking away from my, his eyes staring straight ahead, and a frown on his face.

"Baralai please!" I said, prodding him in the shoulder. "You're making this so much more dramatic than it needs to be. I didn't think you'd turn this matter into a magazine versus you kind of thing."

"Well, which would you choose, Yuna? Me or the magazine?" Baralai said, his eyes intense on mine, and his tone not happy at all.

"Baralai, you know I'd choose you!" I said. "But this isn't about choosing. I can have both!"

Baralai rolled his eyes and turned away from my. "We had so many plans Yuna, and you're just throwing it all away for the magazine. I'd say that's you choosing the magazine over me."

"Don't do this to me," I said, shaking my head. "I told you back when Dona and I applied for this internship that it was in Zanarkand and that it was my dream intern, my dream chance, and you were completely supportive of it then! I already confirmed that Dona and I are going to be there!"

"It didn't take you much thought to decide," Baralai said, shaking his head. "Weren't you looking forward to spending your summer with me?"

"Of course I was," I said. "Baralai, you're not being fair!"

"I'm not being fair? I'm not the one who just cancelled all of our plans and expected you to just "understand."'

"Don't do this now," I said, shaking my head at him. "I can't go to Zanarkand knowing you're mad at me."

"Then don't go!"

"Think of how disappointed everybody would be!"

"Like who? Yourself? Dona? What about me, I? What about my disappointment?"

"Come visit me!" I just said pleadingly.

"Come visit you? But you can't come visit me?"

I closed my eyes and shook my head. "I thought you'd support me."

Baralai let out a sigh and he said, "Sorry. You're right. I should support you. I mean, it's not like I'm dropping my own internship to go to Zanarkand with you or anything. I'm sorry. I'm just…"

"Disappointed," I finished for him. "I know. Honestly, I am too. I was looking forward to our summer together. But it'll just have to be next summer. And besides, the internship is only through the end of July. So we'll still have all of August together!"

A small smile grew on Baralai's face, and he just nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry for acting like such a jerk."

"It's okay," I said, smiling brightly. "I'm just glad I don't have to leave with you mad at me! So are you going to come visit?"

"Of course," Baralai said.

I just smiled at him, and he smiled back at them. Silence fell over us then, causing us both to look away from each other, as if that made the silence any less awkward. It was always like this. For the last three years now, it was always like this. It was complicated, and not something we talked about, but whenever there was silence, it was always the awkward type.

We heard laughter behind us then, and we both turned around, just as my third roommate, Paine, walked into the room.

"Could you two be any more awkward?" she asked, her arms crossed across her chest and an amused smile on her lips. "Seriously, how were you two supposed to spend a whole summer together."

Baralai just laughed, and, apparently choosing to ignore her, said, "Well, it's getting late. I should probably get going. Are you all packed and ready to go?"

"Yeah," I said, nodding slowly. Baralai stood up, and I did as well, deciding that I'd follow him out.

We walked down the hall and toward the door in silence, Baralai in front of me, leading the way. My eyes were on the ground, my mind rather blank. I could feel tension between us, despite the fact that for the time being, we were on good terms.

I could understand his disappointment though. It was a big deal, really. We would have both been in Luca, and _living together_, even if it just was for the summer. My heart pounded at the thought. That _was _a big step. My eyes flickered up at Baralai as he opened the door and stepped outside into the early summer mugginess. I didn't know if I was ready for that step yet. And Paine was right. How absurdly _awkward_. Disappointment wasn't what I felt about not being able to spend the summer with Baralai. Relief was more like it.

It wasn't that I didn't like Baralai. It was the opposite, really. It almost felt like I liked him too much. Like we had too much in common. We were both shy, both reserved. Perhaps we were both ready for the next step, but neither of us knew how to reach that step.

Hence why I was so shocked when Baralai had originally asked me to spend the summer in Luca with him. My lip found its way under my teeth again. It had probably taken a lot of nerve on Baralai's part to ask me that, to make a notion to take us to the next step in our relationship. Of course he was disappointed. I was ultimately letting him down.

I followed Baralai out and shut the door behind me. As I turned around, I almost bumped right into him. He was standing there, his dark eyes on mine, his hands tucked in his pockets. His expression was blank, but I knew that was simply an attempt to hide the disappointment that was shining brightly in his eyes. I couldn't help but wonder: didn't he feel any sort of relief?

"Look Yuna, there was a lot… a lot I wanted to…" as soon as he started speaking, I knew that he was being very serious. And I knew he was talking about us, and that he was having a 

difficult time in doing so, just as we both always did. "A lot I wanted to establish," he finally finished. He licked his lips and finally rested his eyes on mine.

"Yuna," he started after a momentary pause, "I love you."

That was it, the l-word. That word that girls spend their entire teen years waiting to hear. And for me, it was the first time I'd heard it. Not counting the times my father had hastily said it to me, of course.

And, I did just what I'd always pictured I'd do: I smiled and said, "I love you too."

Baralai let out a loud sigh of relief. There, now he was feeling relief.

"I-I'm glad I finally got that out," Baralai said then, with a nervous little laugh. "I wanted to tell you, you know, since…"

I just smiled at the way he stumbled over his words. I wanted to tell him that he didn't need to explain it to me. I understood. We had been dating for three years. Surely it was a natural progression.

"Anyway," he finally finished, "just be careful in Zanarkand, okay?" With that, he held out his arms to me, to hug me.

I fell into his embrace and said, "Don't worry, I'll be just fine."

He laughed into my hair and said, "Don't forget me, either."

"I won't," I said, laughing back.

Baralai released me slightly, and then leaned in for a kiss. I accepted it, feeling a little shocked that he had actually taken the plunge. Usually we stood there in awkward silence before reaching that stage.

The sound of a car pulling in caused us to separate then, and I felt a tinge of red dart across my face, for I knew it was my third roommate Paine, and I was rather embarrassed knowing that she had probably just caught us kissing. It was foolish of me to feel that way, I knew, but I couldn't help it. I knew Baralai felt embarrassed as well, for he looked away from me, and were it just a little brighter, I was certain that I would find red on his cheeks as well.

"You two don't need to act all embarrassed," Paine's voice was heard as she stepped out of her car. "It's not like I'm Yuna's father or something."

"Well, I really should get going," Baralai said, ignoring Paine's words. "Goodbye Yuna. I'll let you know as soon as I know when I can come visit."

"Okay," I said.

"Be careful," Baralai told me again. I noticed then that my hand was in his. I looked down at our enclosed hands, my mouth slightly agape.

He didn't look away from me. He simply kept his eyes focused on mine, his expression still blank, his eyes still shining with disappointment. I felt as if there was something else he wanted to say to me, but he dropped my hand then, and started toward his car.

I watched him as he walked away, a slight smile on my lips. This was it. He was leaving, and then I would be going to bed, and then the next morning… my heart began to pound. This was it. My summertime in Bevelle was going to end very soon.

"Goodbye, Yuna," Baralai said then. "Call, okay?"

"I will, every night," I promised hastily.

Baralai smiled then, and with that, he crawled into his car.

I watched him as he drove away, all the way until his black, shiny car was out of sight. Then, with my smile still on my lips, I turned around, smiled even brighter at Paine, who just shook her head at me, and walked inside.


	2. The Task

Phew, I didn't think I'd get this chapter finished in time! Although, writing this chapter was much smoother than writing the first chapter! I'm the most excited for chapter three though, if you really want to know. Haha! Anyway, I don't really have much to say, except for that I'll try to get chapter 3 out as fast as I can... I haven't started it yet... oops.

Enjoy!

**Chapter 2: The Task**

"Yevon, here we are!" Dona cried loudly in my ear. I just smiled broadly, and kept my eyes glued out the taxi window. So this was it. This was Zanarkand.

"Isn't it gorgeous? It's so majestic. Wait until you see it at night!" Dona cried, and I felt her lean toward me. "Look, that's the blitzball stadium! See it over there, over the water? You've seen the one in Luca right? This one is like five times the size of the one in Luca! I wonder if we'll get to go to a game? And look over here Yuna. That's the Ministry for Proper Machina Use over there! See it!"

I smiled at my friend's enthusiasm.

"This summer is going to change our lives forever!" Dona said then. "Yevon, I am so happy I'm single." She prodded me with her elbow and raised her eyebrows at me. "First thing I do, after we go shopping of course, is scout out the Zanarkand boys. Too bad you're hooked."

"Yeah," I said, although honestly, boys were the last thing on my mind. I decided to voice this out loud. "But Dona, remember that we're here to further our knowledge of the magazine world, and with goals of scoring a job with _The Mode_. Boys should be the last thing on our minds."

"Oh, you're just saying that because you have a boyfriend," Dona said. Then, she prodded me again with her elbow and said, "And I hear the big l-word was dropped yesterday. What, was that the first time?"

"How do you know that?" I demanded.

"You know Baralai and Paine are pretty tight. He told her. She told me. So really, was that the first time?"

"Dona, it's not a big deal," I said, looking back outside the window.

"Not a big deal? Yuna, was it the first time or not? For you two, that's groundbreaking."

"Again, it's not a big deal," I just said. "I never got it, you know. Like in movies, or on TV, when the guy, or the girl, says "I love you" and the guy, or the girl, is all like, "Oh my Yevon, seriously? I don't know if I feel that way about you!" I never got it. What's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal?" Dona cried. "Yuna, that's like promising yourself to that person forever. That's what the big deal is about. But I mean, for you two, it's not a big deal. You've been dating for what, three years?"

"Yeah, yeah," I just said. "I still don't understand the big deal. It's just a word."

"It's an _emotion_, Yuna," Dona said, giving me a look as if to say I was crazy. "Sometimes, I think you're heartless. No wonder you could easily just push Baralai aside for this. So you really told him you loved him too?"

"It's not a big deal, Dona. Honestly. It's not a big deal."

"He's not a big deal then?" Dona asked me, her eyebrows raised again.

"Dona, this internship is the big deal. Okay? Baralai has to understand that. Now if you don't mind, I'm trying to take in all that is Zanarkand via the taxi window."

Dona shook her head at me, but she leaned back in her chair and looked out her window.

"How much longer?" she asked, her mood seeming to have instantly changed.

"Hopefully not much," I said. "I'm not too nervous yet."

"Yevon, I'm so getting nervous," Dona said. "But honestly Yuna, this summer is going to change us. I can just feel it. Besides, haven't you heard that Zanarkand is the ultimate sin. It gets into your skin and drags you into corruption!"

I laughed loudly, and said, "You sound like my father."

"Hey, I'm just repeating what I've been told," Dona said with a smirk. "Paine says she thinks it's true. She told me she doesn't even expect us back."

"Well, if we got the job…"

"You'd skip out of school Yuna?"

"No, but I might, I don't know, transfer or something. It's my dream to work there!"

"Right, right. If I got the job, I guess I would too. Wow, maybe Paine was right: we won't be back!"

"Don't jinx it Dona!"

"You'd really leave Bevelle?" Dona asked, her voice full of shock.

"Well, yeah," I said, shrugging. "If it meant I got to work for _The Mode_. Besides, there is something majestic about this city. I can't wait to see it at night."

"Well, it's majestic _and _corrupt," Dona said, a smile prying at her lips.

"Whatever," I said, and I rolled my eyes.

By now we were very deep into the city. It was much different than Bevelle. Bevelle was so organized and made up of rich mahogany and reds and violets. Zanarkand was a complete mixture of colors, and there seemed to be no organization to the city at all. The sun was shining bright in the sky, but it was hard to tell, for the buildings were so tall. Even when craning my neck under the window, I still couldn't see their tops. I had never seen anything so tall in my life.

The city was a little hazy, probably because the sun's rays couldn't reach underneath the buildings. But that haziness was what created the majestic appeal. Dona really couldn't have worded it better. It truly was majestic. I was falling in love with it, and I hadn't even breathed the air yet. I laughed to myself, and hoped Dona didn't notice. I figured I didn't want to smell the air. It would probably ruin the illusion.

Soon enough, the taxi slowed way down. I peered out the window, and noticed that we were on a very wide street, with very glamorous tall buildings on either side of the street.

"Here we are," the driver said. "237 Zaon Street."

"Yevon, this is it!" Dona said. I looked out on Dona's side, and saw a sign in a cursive script in a rich gold that read _The Mode_. I took in a breath of the stuffy taxi air and held it in, for I knew that otherwise I would scream. This was what all of my dreams consisted of. I wanted to do something cliché like pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming, but instead I just listened to my pounding heartbeat to prove that I had to be alive, that it had to be reality.

Dona opened her door and stepped out, and I found myself reaching for my own door handle before stumbling out as well. The taxi was already paid for, so we took out our suitcases, dragged them to the front steps of the massive building, and then we gawked. Surely we looked foolish, but we couldn't help ourselves. We stood side-by-side in front of the royal violet carpeting that went down the marble stairs leading to the door, with our suitcases next to us, our mouths completely agape. This was it.

"Come on," I said, coming back to my senses faster than Dona. "Let's go in."

We rolled our suitcases up the stairs, and then walked into the revolving gold door. Honestly, it looked like a hotel. There were twin waterfalls on either side of a marble path that led to a counter. The counter was made up of all white stone with violet and pink accents, such as the pink phone that the attendant at the desk was speaking in. The attendant was sitting in a chair, leaning back, and examining her nails, with the phone held between her ear and her shoulder. She wore a purple faux-suede suit, with a matching blazer and skirt, and a rather 

ridiculous feathered matching purple hat on her head. The attendant glanced up at Dona and I, before saying into the phone, "I gotta go, hun. Leblanc's interns are here. Yeah, bye." She hung up the phone then, and said, "You two are the interns, right?"

"Right!" both Dona and I chirped at the same time.

"Just let me buzz L to tell her you're here."

"L?" Dona said softly, her eyes going to me.

"I suppose for Leblanc," I whispered back with a shrug.

The violet-clad woman picked up the pink phone and pushed a button, and said, "The interns are here. Uh-huh. Okay, I'll send them right up." She hung the phone up with a clang then, and said, "L wants to you two to see her immediately. Floor thirteen. And you'll need this card."

The woman handed me what appeared to be a pink diamond-studded keycard. I stared at it in shock, feeling as if I was in some sort of love hotel or something, not a magazine headquarters.

"O-Okay, thanks," I said. I wrapped my fingers around the handle to my suitcase, and started toward the gold-door elevator that sat in the middle of the wide room, surrounded by display cases, which revealed two very old issues of _The Mode_.

"Floor thirteen?" Dona whispered as soon as we stepped into the elevator—which, for the record, was as glamorous as the rest of the building was so far. "Doesn't that seem a little worrisome?"

"I didn't know you were superstitious," I replied, as I pushed the pink number thirteen button.

"I'm not," Dona said. "I just can't help but feel a little worried about it, that's all. Maybe this is a joke?"

"It seems like a joke, doesn't it?" I said, looking at the keycard.

A voice suddenly made us jump though, for we heard a loud male's voice say "Keycard access needed."

Feeling a little shaky, perhaps from the male's voice appearing from nowhere or from Paine's worry about the number thirteen, I pressed the diamond-studded keycard to the flashing section that said "place keycard here". With a jolt, the elevator started.

"Freaky…" Dona whispered at my side.

"Yeah, just a little," I wasn't even hesitant to agree.

The elevator dinged then, and the doors opened. We were greeted but nothing but a small room that was completely white. White floor, white walls, a white couch, and a white table. On the couch were pink pillows, but otherwise, it was completely white.

"Well, this is very _Mode_-ish," Dona said.

"Yeah, but where do we go?" I questioned, as we both walked out of the elevator.

"That wasn't very well thought out," Dona said, pointing to the gold elevator doors that closed.

"It wasn't, was it?"

We spun around at the voice, only to see that a very tall, lithe man had stepped out from a door that blended in perfectly with the wall.

"You must be the interns," he said, his voice slightly whiny. He was dressed all in black with a pink nametag that said "Logos". Confirming that his name was indeed Logos, the man said, "I am Logos, Leblanc's assistant. She will see you soon."

With that, he walked up to the elevator, pushed a button, and walked into it.

"Okay, now I'm feeling nervous," Dona said as we both took a seat on the squishy white couch.

"Me too," I said. "My stomach is killing me."

The door opened again, and I felt both myself and Dona tense up. I was sure both of us sucked our breaths in and held it. Neither of us were breathing.

It wasn't the surely stylish Leblanc that entered the small room we were in though. Instead, it was a short, squatty man who was dressed similarly to Logos. His face was red and his eyes seemed to be blazing angrily. He didn't appear happy at all. His pink nametag revealed that his name was Ormi.

"Lemme guess, Yuna and Dona," he said, his voice gruff.

"Y-Yes," Dona said, as both of us stood up quickly, our eyes wide in fear.

"Leblanc will see you now," he just said, nodding toward the hidden door. I craned my neck past Ormi, and saw that there was a pink crystal doorknob on what looked like the wall.

"Alright, thank you!" Dona cried, and she grabbed my arm and pulled me toward that doorknob. We heard the elevator ding, and it wasn't long before the gold doors shut once again, and Ormi disappeared.

"How do I look?" Dona asked me as soon as the door closed. "Do I look like I just spent two hours in an airship and another forty-five minutes in a taxi?"

I laughed and said, "No, do I?"

"No."

"Okay then, here we go."

The two of us took a big breath, and then I reached out and wrapped my fingers around the crystal doorknob.

"Here we go," I said, and I gave Dona a smile. She gave me a nervous one in return.

"Wait, should we knock?" Dona asked.

"Um, I don't know…" I answered.

"Me neither!" Dona said. "That Ormi guy said to just go on in, right?"

"Yeah, but it does seem like the right thing to do to knock."

"Okay then, knock."

Without hesitation, I released the doorknob and knocked quickly, and rather timidly, on the white door.

"Come in," we heard a woman's voice say. It sounded as if she was far from the door, as if the room was a good twelve feet deep that she was in.

"Alright, here we go," I said. And with that, I twisted the doorknob, and in we walked.

It shouldn't have surprised me that the room was huge. And it really shouldn't have surprised me that it was pink. The décor consisted of three shades of pink: pink, light pink, and dark pink, with silver accents. The floor was silver, the walls were light pink. A dark pink trim went around the room. In the precise middle of the enormous room was a light pink desk, and behind that dressed, sitting in a dark pink chair, was Leblanc herself.

She sat very straight, and very professional. I had to admit that I was shocked to see such a professional-looking woman behind that desk, not that it should have been surprising. After all, I had always known that a magazine as wonderful and successful as _The Mode _had to be professional.

"Yuna and Dona, right?" Leblanc said. "Have a seat." She motioned for the two pink chairs that were in front of her desk.

I gave Dona a quick look to see if she looked as nervous as I felt, and then we started forward, and into the surprisingly cushy pink chairs.

"Yuna, right?" she asked, her eyes now on me.

"Yes," I said. She reached out her hand and I shook it, and said, "I'm very, very pleased to meet you."

Leblanc simply smiled, and then turned to Dona, who also shook her hand.

"So are you two happy to be here?" Leblanc asked us then, her long (perhaps fake) eyelashes seeming to point at both of us.

"Of course," Dona answered quickly. "We were so ecstatic to find that we received the intern!"

I smiled at Dona's words, but I couldn't help but feel that Leblanc wasn't really listening. Her eyes were on us, and they looked very keen and intent, but something told me she wasn't paying attention to what Dona was saying. Other thoughts were going through her mind, and I could only hope that they were good thoughts.

"Well you two were honestly the most, shall we say, right for the job."

"You liked our sample stories?" Dona asked, a happy little smile on her face.

Leblanc appeared confused for a second, but she blinked a few times and said, "Well of course. Not to mention that you two were by far the most stylish of the applicants. We can't have non-stylish interns here at _The Mode_!

"Well of course not!" Dona was probably too quick to agree. I just simply smiled.

"Well, your qualifications were all excellent," Leblanc said, smiling. She looked down at a piece of paper on her desk, and she said, "You're both bright, stylish, and very pretty."

"Bright, stylish, and… pretty?" I found myself saying out loud.

"And, if I'm not mistaken, you're the Maester's daughter, am I right? And Dona, your father is a major sponsor for blitzball teams across Spira, right?"

"Well, he is a very successful CEO," Dona said. I glanced at my friend, and narrowed my eyes. Did we only get the internships because of who our fathers are?

"Excellent," Leblanc just said. "You two are _perfect_."

I closed my eyes momentarily, and then shook my head. I reopened my eyes and decided to talk about the internship, and not why we were chosen.

"So, it's my understanding that we will be interns for two months, and that if we're impressing enough, we could be offered jobs here?"

"That's right," Leblanc said.

"What kind of tasks will we be doing?" Dona asked, an excited smile spreading itself out on her lips.

"Well, it's more like _a task_," Leblanc said. "But let's not talk about that quite yet. Just know that your writing and interviewing skills will be put to the test. And I promise, if you're successful, a job here is yours."

Dona and I exchanged excited glances. That was it? That was all I would have to do for a job?

"Anyway, I have arranged for you two to stay at a lovely suite at the Zanarkand Hotel, which is only a block away from here. I will send you two with our PR man, Barthello in a little bit. You two can spend the day getting to know the city and getting unpacked. Tomorrow, you are to report back here, and I will give you a schedule, along with a few more details on your task."

Leblanc reached over to her phone then, and pushed a button.

"Hello Barthello," she said. "The girls are here. Come on up."

She hung the phone up then, and leaned forward in her chair. Her glossy pink lips turned into a smile, and she said, "While we wait for him, would you like to know your task?"

"Um, yeah," Dona said, and we both leaned forward.

The blonde-haired Leblanc looked at us, her smile rather sly, and then she leaned back, and folded her manicured hands (complete with pink sequined nails) across her lap.

"As you know, _The Mode_ features a section every month on Spira's hottest members of society, be it actors, cute young politicians, or… blitzball players."

"Right, it's always the feature," I said, nodding. I instantly felt confused though. Did Leblanc want us to do the _feature_? The section she was talking about was always at least a four page spread, complete with an interview and pictures. I knew that if I was in charge of a magazine like _The Mode_, there would be no way I'd let an intern be in charge of such a task!

I decided to stop letting my mind run. Of course Leblanc didn't want us to do the feature.

"Yes, it is always the feature," Leblanc said. She smiled even wider at us, and she said, "And there's one feature that _The Mode_ has been trying to write for a good year now. Actually, everyone in the entire magazine industry is trying to get this feature."

"Sounds competitive," Dona said with a nervous little laugh.

"Very," Leblanc said, her rather beady eyes on Dona now. "But, no one has been able to get a proper interview with the team."

"Wait, the team?" I said.

"Hold up, Love, I'm getting to that," Leblanc said, holding her hand up to signal me to stop. "The newest blitzball team in Spira. Surely you've heard of them?"

"Yevon, the Abes?" Dona said, her eyes growing wide. "I've only seen like one picture of them, but they are hot."

"Yes, that is the team," Leblanc said, smiling at Dona.

"The Abes?" I repeated, not enjoying the fact that I was out of the loop.

"Oh yeah, remember I told you about them like three months ago?" Dona said. "I said that I hoped we could go to one of their games when we were in Zanarkand! That's the only time you can see them."

"Yes, they're extremely secretive," Leblanc said. She cleared her throat, and said, "A little over a year ago, a very wealthy Al Bhed man by the name of Rin started a new franchise in the A-East district of Zanarakand. As you may or may not be aware of, Zanarkand has four blitzball teams, all of which are extremely popular and extremely talented. But the Abes are by far the best and the most well-known, despite the fact that they are the newest team in the league. All of the guys are very young; no one on the team is older than twenty.

"They keep to themselves, though," Leblanc said, leaning back and crossing her arms. "It's guessed that it's all part of their marketing ploy: people go to the games just to see them. Unlike most of the blitzball teams in Spira—I'm sure you've seen the multiple commercials with those guys from the Luca Goers—the Abes don't get involved with the media at all. No one knows anything about the guys, except for their names, their ages, and their blitzball stats. You know, all of that boring stuff that people don't really care about.

"It's a complete shame!" Leblanc said then, and her nose scrunched in disgust. "They are _hot_. Trust me, I've been to multiple games, all in an attempt at getting through for an interview. As have multiple magazines, newspapers, sphere shows—you name it. If we could get an interview with _anyone _from the team, _The Mode_ would blow past any competitor and make us the for sure number one magazine in Spira.

"But," Leblanc continued, her eyebrows now raised rather ominously, "there is one guy who is more desirable for an interview than the rest. I don't know how much you follow blitzball, but fifteen years ago, a team similar to the Abes existed, called the Zanarkand Warriors. A man named Jecht played for the Warriors, and he was—."

"A total legend," Dona finished for Leblanc.

"Exactly," Leblanc said, and she shot Dona what was perhaps her first real smile of the day. "I see you know blitzball."

"Oh, a little bit," Dona said, smiling. I felt myself shooting Dona a quick glare. Who would have thought that her blitzball knowledge would actually come in handy for something as important as this?

"Well, his son is on the Abes."

"Tidus," Dona said, her smile growing. "Right?"

"Right," Leblanc said, and she leaned back again. "If you could score an interview with him, our magazine would kill any competitors. Hell, if you could just figure out something basic like his favorite color, we'd kill any competitors. No one can find anything out about him. Anytime he's cornered by anybody, he just spouts out blitzball stats."

"So you want us to somehow try to interview this guy?" I asked, and I gave a surprised glance to Dona, who was smiling with a dumb look on her face.

"Yes," Leblanc said. "And I think you two are perfect for the job. Of course, you'll do other things than just this interview. You have until the end of the internship to get the interview, and I promise, if you can get any information on anyone on the team, you could easily have a _definite _future with _The Mode_. And if you get something on Tidus, I will give you whatever position you desire—as long, of course, as it's under mine." She beamed at us then, and stood up.

"So good luck. Barthello should be arriving soon. He will take you to your hotel. You have the evening off, and tomorrow, please check back in here at ten in the morning. You will be given schedules then, and more information."

She shook Dona's hand then, and then turned to me.

"And Yuna, Love," she said, giving me a small smile, "I suggest you read up on blitzball a bit."

"S-Sure," I stumbled. I felt my cheeks turn red, and I felt Dona smile smugly at my side. I simply set my jaw and lifted my chin slightly forward. Staring into Leblanc's eyes, I promised myself that I would get that interview. No matter what the cost.

A small smile lit my face. Dona wouldn't be smug for long.


	3. The In

Ah! I almost didn't get this chapter done in time! But I did. Even though I had to stay up until 1 in the morning... Haha.

Also, thanks to all of you who reviewed! They make me really happy! Anyway, enjoy!!

* * *

**Chapter 3: The In**

"Okay, seriously Yuna, what do you think about Barthello?" Dona asked me as she started pulling newly purchased clothes out of their bags to hang them in her closet. "Do you think he's kind of cute?"

I looked up over my laptop and gave my friend a questioning look. She simply smiled back at me.

"Um… I guess cute isn't the word that comes to mind," I just said, and I turned back to my laptop. We were in our "suite" which was actually just an oversized bedroom with an attached bathroom. It was actually rather cute though, for the décor was very tasteful, and there was even a balcony off of the room with a gorgeous view of the city. It was nice, considering that it didn't really have a 'hotel' kind of feel to it, and it reminded me of a much nicer version of Dona and my dorm days from our freshman year.

"Oh right, you like your guys kind of skinny and scrawny," Dona said, shaking her head.

I simply laughed. It was kind of true. Toned, sure, but overly muscular and buff really wasn't my thing.

"What are you doing, anyway?" Dona asked. "You haven't even hung up your new purchases yet."

"I'm looking up information on the Abes," I replied. "There's nothing."

"I could have told you that," Dona said, laughing. "What an awesome task, huh?"

"I don't know if awesome is the words I would use," I said. "I think it's kind of sad, actually. If they don't want to be interviewed, then we shouldn't meddle."

"Oh please Yuna, journalism one-oh-one: always meddle."

"I know, I know," I said, shutting my laptop. "It's just… I don't know, if not interviewing or telling about themselves is for marketing reasons, then that makes sense. There's probably not a story behind them anyway. How interesting can a bunch of blitzball players be?"

"Yuna, please!" Dona cried. "They aren't just blitzball players. They're _hot young _blitzball players."

"Like what, teenagers? Isn't this something for _Teen Mode_?"

"No, they're all at least in their twenties," Dona said, rolling her eyes at me. "They are all great. I swear they were all chosen for the team based on their looks, and not on their actual blitzball skills."

"No, their stats are the only thing I can find, and they look pretty good," I said, opening my laptop again. "Especially that Tidus. He is impressive."

"Have you seen what he looks like?" Dona asked me, her eyebrows raised. "He is _very _impressive. Seriously Yuna, I can see it now: a four-page spread about Tidus, complete with a pull-out pin-up poster of him…shirtless."

"Yevon Dona, this isn't _Teen Mode_!"

"No, but any woman—and I'm sure some men—would love to have one."

I rolled my eyes at her and laid back in the soft bed that I had claimed as mine. It was an interesting task, there was no doubt. I stared at the ceiling, and found myself coming up with a mock interview in my mind. What would I ask this Tidus guy? I found that I was having trouble even coming up with questions. I sat back up. I'd just have to at least see what he looked like before I could come up with a mock interview.

"So do you think Leblanc will tell us just how we're going to get close with the team?" Dona asked then.

"Face it Dona, we were used," I said, taking my laptop off of my lap. "Leblanc just saw that we had pretty faces and powerful dads. She probably didn't even look at our applications or our portfolios. Just those dumb pictures of ourselves we had to send."

"What does it matter Yuna?" Dona asked, shaking her head at me. "This will be our dream summer. So what if Leblanc is a little…_different_. This is an awesome task. Isn't this the kind of thing you wanted to do anyway? Something dirty like this?"

"I don't think treachery was my idea of a good time," I said. "I mean, I know this career has its fair share of it and stuff, but… it is kind of wrong. And it is wrong that we were chosen the way we were."

"Then we have to prove to Leblanc that she made the right choice!" Dona said. "Come on Yuna, you're thinking too deeply into it."

"Possibly," I admitted. "But I don't think Leblanc is going to help us too much. I think it's all up to us."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Dona said. "But hey, at least she gave us these awesome recorders!"

I smiled. It was true, Leblanc had given us both matching recorders that were definitely top of the line as far as recorders went.

"She must have faith in us," I said, shaking my head. "But I think it's all somewhat ludicrous. I mean, she just brings us two in from Bevelle. We don't know anything about the city or anything else, so how does she expect us to get near the team?"

Dona shrugged and said, "Maybe tomorrow we'll learn more?"

I opened my mouth to say something, only to find myself cut off by my cell phone, which began to go off loudly.

"Is it Baralai?" Dona questioned.

I smiled and grabbed my phone, only to feel my smile disappear.

"No, it's my cousin, Rikku…"

"You have a cousin?" Dona questioned.

"Yeah," I answered. "She lives in… Yevon, she lives in Zanarkand!" I hurriedly flipped my phone open and said, "Hello?"  
"Yunie!" my cousin's high pitched voice said in my ear. "So today I was shopping, and I saw a girl who looked just like you! And then I realized that I hadn't talked to you in a good five months, so I decided to call and say hi! How are you doing? Still in Bevelle?"

"U-Uh actually, Rikku," I said, "I'm in Zanarkand."

"No way. You can't be in Zanarkand!" Rikku said loudly. "Doesn't your dad hate Zanarkand or something?"

"He doesn't know I'm here," I said softly.

"No way, you a rebel?" Rikku said. "So were you shopping today?"

"Yeah, I was," I said.

"At the Zanarkand Mall in the Center District?"

"I think so," I admitted. Had my cousin really seen me?

"Yevon so it was you!" Rikku's voice squealed in my ear. "I seriously almost said hi, but I was like, no way my cousin Yunie is here in Zanarkand! So spill the beans, what are you doing here?"

"Um… I'm here for an internship with _The Mode_," I said.

"_The Mode_? No way!" Rikku cried. "We so need to meet up like right now! I haven't seen you in like three years!"

"Yeah, it's been a while," I said.

"Tonight. We have to see each other tonight!" Rikku cried. "Let's go… Shoot… I have to go to this party tonight. I know, I'll get you into the party!"

"Um, parties aren't my thing," I admitted quickly, but I noticed that Dona perked at the mention of a party.

"Hey, come on Yuna!" Dona's voice was heard at my side. "That could be fun!"

"Yeah, but I could totally get you in," Rikku said. "And your friend too. That girl you were at the mall with, she's probably from Bevelle too, right?"

"Yeah, she is, but honestly Rikku, I don't think…"

"It's going to be a super awesome party. It's hosted by the Zanarkand Abes. Where can you go wrong."

"Whoa, hold up Rikku," I said quickly, and I felt my heart begin to pound. "Did you just say the Zanarkand Abes? As in the super secretive blitzball team?"

Dona was at my side instantly. "The Zanarkand Abes?" she hissed in my ear. I flicked my wrist at her, to try to tell her to relax.

"Um, okay, so what about this party?"

"Oh please Yunie, don't tell me you're one of those crazy Abes fangirls."

"N-No, I'm not, but…" I let out a sigh. I found myself torn between telling her the truth or making something up. "But my friend is."

Dona gave me a confused look, and Rikku said, "Oh."

"Kind of, anyway," I said. "I mean, we just got here Rikku. It would be really cool to meet some people and stuff I guess. A-And I want to see you. It has been a long time."

"Awesome!" Rikku cried. "Do you want me to pick you guys up?"

"You have a car?"

"Yeah, I just got it for my birthday!" Rikku said, and I could just imagine that she was probably grinning. "Seven okay?"

"Yeah, sure," I said. "See you then Rikku."

"Bye Yunie!"

I hung up then, and turned toward Dona with a smile wide on my lips.

"Tonight at seven, we shall go and meet the Abes!"

"I can't believe it!" Dona cried. "This is too perfect! So tell me about your cousin."

"Well, you know my mother was Al Bhed right," I began. "Well, my mom had a brother, and my brother has two kids, and one of them is Rikku, who is two years younger than me. She either just graduated from high school or just started college—I don't really remember. Rikku idolizes me and insisted on visiting me in Bevelle every summer since she was like eight. Well, eventually we both just got too busy for her to visit, so she just started calling me monthly or so."

"You are harsh Yuna," Dona said, shaking her head.

"What do you mean?"

"You ignore your poor cousin, and now that she can actually help you, you'll pretend to like her."

"Dona, it's not like that!" I said, instantly jumping to defend myself. "I enjoyed Rikku's company, but she stayed forever. My entire summers were spend coming up with ways to amuse her. It got old pretty fast. And you know how hard it is to remember to call her and stuff. Especially once I got into college."

"Yeah, I guess," Dona said. "I mean, I barely stay in contact with my parents, so…"

I laughed. "Yeah."

"But anyway, how awesome is this?"

"Very!" I cried. "What are we going to wear?"

"Our new clothes, duh," Dona said, and she jumped back over to her closet.

I simply smiled and began to pull my clothes out of their bags.

-

"Yuuuuunieeeeeee!" my cousin's voice screeched into my ear as she flung her arms around me, pinning my arms to my side so that I couldn't even return her embrace.

"Hi Rikku," I managed, despite the fact that I was feeling smothered. Dona walked up behind us, a small smile on her lips as she watched my cousin hug me.

Rikku released me, and took a step away from me, with a huge smile on her lips.

"You look super cute!" she cooed at me. "Did you get a haircut?"

"Yeah," I admitted. "Oh, this is my friend Dona." I motioned for Dona to stand next to me.

"Pleased to meet you," Dona said, her smile almost as huge as Rikku's.

"Pleased to meet you too," Rikku said. "So are you guys ready to party Zanarkand style?"

"We sure are!" Dona cried. "This is so completely awesome that you can get us into this party."

"It's not a big deal," Rikku said, still smiling. "My dad is friends with the Abes' owner, so they let me go to their parties and stuff. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Very," Dona said. We started toward Rikku's silver car then, as we were standing right on the steps of our hotel.

"Wow, Zanarkand is pretty at night," I said, as we walked into the street. The hazy effect was still on the city, as if it had managed to capture some of the sun. The lights sparkled everywhere, creating an almost breathtaking spectacle.

"How far away is the party?" Dona simply questioned, ignoring my comment.

"Not very," Rikku admitted. "It's located right on the A-East docks, which is only about a ten minute drive from here."

"That's not bad at all," Dona said.

We all climbed into Rikku's rather flashy car, and with her tires screeching loudly on the pavement below us, we were off.

"So Yuna…" Dona said from the backseat, "I'm thinking we make a little competition out of this, what do you think?"

"Dona, let's not talk about it here," I said, quickly turning my head to look out the window, as to not meet Rikku's gaze.

"A completion for what?" Rikku questioned.

"To see who can get a better interview, of course!" Dona's voice said cheerfully from the back.

Rikku was silent for a few seconds, before she said, "Oh, I get it. You guys want to interview the players, that it?"

I swallowed loudly, and mentally cursed Dona and her big mouth. My friend never was much of a thinker. She didn't know how to tactfully lie.

"Yeah…" I admitted though, answering Rikku's question.

"Well, good luck," Rikku said. "The guys will hate you if you tell them you're with a magazine, or any kind of media."

"Then we just can't tell them," Dona said.

"I personally think they should just open up already," Rikku said.

"Really?" I questioned, unable to hide the fact that I found Rikku's words to be rather shocking. I figured she'd want to protect the team from people like Dona and myself.

"Well yeah," Rikku said. "It wouldn't be that big of a deal to let the media do some stories about them and whatnot. They're all just being dumb and modest."

"You think?" Yuna asked. "A-Are they nice guys?"

"Most are," Rikku said, shrugging. "There are one or two guys who aren't the nicest, but the rest of the guys put up with them."

"Is Tidus nice?" Dona asked from the back.

Rikku laughed and looked at Dona through the rearview mirror. "Yeah, he's a sweetie."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah," Rikku said. "Unless you're with a magazine or something wanting an interview. So good luck getting to him. He _hates _magazines."

"We'll just have to keep on the down-low then," Dona said. "Okay Yuna, whoever gets the interview with Tidus automatically wins."

"Leblanc already told us that," I said, leaning back in my chair in a rather disappointed way. Perhaps this was going to be harder than I thought. Heck, perhaps this was more _wrong _than I thought. I couldn't force someone to do an interview, after all.

"I'm going to get that interview," Dona said, leaning back and crossing her arms. It was my turn to glance back in the rearview mirror now. Dona's smug eyes met mine, and a smile grew on her lips to match her eyes. Her sureness bothered me. I felt a frown grow on my lips.

"Good luck," Rikku simply said. "Well, here we are!"

I felt my mouth drop. Cars lined the rather narrow street, which strange looking massive houses dotted. Rikku quickly parked and jumped out of the car, looking very excited. Dona and I dazedly climbed out, and a breeze whipped through our hair.

"It's so much more refreshing by the sea!" Rikku said, smiling. She grabbed my arm then, and said, "Come on! Let's go!"

She led Dona and I up to the door, which a smiling dark-haired girl answered.

"Hey Rikku!" she said happily. "I didn't know if you'd show!"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world!" Rikku said. "This is my cousin Yuna from Bevelle! Oh, and her friend Dona."

Dona didn't look too happy at the way Rikku introduced her, but she pushed past me to shake the girl's hand first. I simply ignored Dona's hasty actions, and took in the party's atmosphere. People were _everywhere_. I had no idea how I was going to spot the blitzball players.

Rikku started chatting with the girl, and Dona suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me deeper into the party.

"Let's split up," she said. "Using Rikku is like cheating."

"Hey, Rikku's the one that got us here!" I protested. "Besides, there aren't any rules!"

"Yeah, but you want to do this fairly, don't you?" Dona asked, looking angry.

"Whatever, let's just split up," I agreed, pulling my arm from Dona's grasp.

"Okay," Dona said, looking around. "I have inside, and you have outside."

"Outside?" I cried. I sighed though, and said, "Fine."

"Good luck!" Dona cried, as she gave me a light shove toward the door.

"Thanks, you too," I said, although I frowned at my friend's behavior. Truthfully though, I did want to go outside. It was far too beautiful out there for me to stay inside.

I found a back door and I quickly stepped back into the sea-filled air. I walked out onto what appeared to be a very crowded deck that was right over the sea.

"Wow…" I said, as I managed to move through the crowds and toward the edge of the dock. The glow of the buildings echoed into the water, and I realized that it wasn't really the sea that I was looking at, but rather a channel that led into the sea. I could see another part of the city far across the open channel, the lights blaring into the night sky.

I smiled dreamily at the scenery in front of me, and then turned around, only to nearly run right into a shorter guy who had sandy-blonde curls.

"Um, excuse me," I said, as I realized the guy was standing very close to me, facing me.

"No, excuse me," he said, a sly smile on his lips. "You new around here?"

I felt my forehead wrinkle. The guy's breath reeked of alcohol, and I noticed that he was swaying. He had obviously had quite a bit to drink.

"No, not really," I lied. "Um, excuse me, I need to get through."

"Why? What's the hurry?" he asked, and he outstretched his arms, and trapped me between the dock's railing and his body.

"Please move," I said, keeping my face firm.

"First you tell me what the hurry is," he said, his smile widening.

I took a deep breath, in an attempt to keep my patience. I figured that if worst came to worst, I could simply give this guy a shove and send him over backwards, as he already looked as if he was having trouble standing. I also noticed, however, that although he wasn't the tallest guy, he was fairly strong. Much stronger than me. I let out a silent gulp.

I looked behind him, expecting to find someone to help me. I realized that I'd managed to wander into the corner though, and people probably thought we were just a couple, or something, for no one paid us any attention.

I looked back into his piercing hazel eyes, and took another deep breath.

"I really need you to step away from me," I said.

"Why would I want to do that?" he slurred back at me, his breath very hot on my face, his breath undoubtedly carrying molecules of alcohol.

"I don't enjoy being this close to strangers," I said, my eyes glaring into his.

"Why not?" he questioned. "Don't you know who I am?"

I felt my eyes flick open slightly. Could this be… _Tidus_?

I simply shook my head no.

"Aw, of course you do!" he cried, and I felt my eyes close and my mouth twist in disgust at the smell that entered my nose. "I'm the star player of the Zanarkand Abes!"

"T-Tidus?" I managed.

His smile instantly faded. "No, Kiryl," he said, and he suddenly did not look very happy at all. Suddenly, he grabbed my shoulders hard, and pressed me against the railing of the dock. I felt my rather bony backbone slam into the railing, sending pain throughout my body. His hands were hard on my shoulders, and I was certain that he was causing bruises.

"Stop it," I said, my voice coming out as a plea. My eyes closed tightly from the pain, and I said, "Let me go!"

The pressure was suddenly gone then, and I opened my eyes, only to see him getting pulled backwards.

"That's enough, Kiryl," I heard a voice say from behind him. "I told you last time to knock it off. Now get out."

"You know I'm just kidding!" Kiryl said, his voice rather whiny.

I noticed then a taller guy, also with blonde hair, who was talking, had Kiryl by the shirt, and did not look very happy. I blinked a few times, and simply watched, breathlessly.

"That's what you said last time," the taller blonde said, as he spun Kiryl around so that he was now facing the door. "Now get."

"You can't kick me out of this party!" Kiryl's voice cried, but he had already stumbled toward the door.

"I think I just did," my savior said, crossing his arms across his chest. Kiryl shot us both a nasty look, but he continued on through the door, back inside.

Shaking his head, the newcomer turned to me, and gave me a small smile. "Sorry if he hurt you," he said. "When he drinks too much, he gets a little out of hand. That's the problem with guys from Luca, you know. They don't have any kind of control."

I simply stared back at him, unsure of what to say.

"Um, thanks," I managed.

"No problem," he said, giving me a little grin. "Someone's gotta keep this party under control, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so," I agreed.

"So if he bothers you again, just come find me," the blonde said, his grin growing a little more. "Or anyone from the team. We know how to handle him."

_From the team…_

"O-Okay, I will," I simply stammered. He smiled again, and with that, he disappeared into the crowd.

I smiled, glad to see that there were decent guys in Zanarkand, and I turned around to heard back toward the house, only to bump right into Rikku.

"Yunie," she said, smiling very widely at me. "Don't you know who that was?"

"No," I said, turning toward where the guy had disappeared.

"That," Rikku said, pushing me toward the crowd slowly, "was Tidus."

"Tidus?" I cried. "Really?"

"Yeah!" Rikku chirped. "Go thank him again!"

"Again?" I cried. "I don't think…"

"Go," Rikku said, still pushing me toward the crowd.

"B-But—," I stammered.

"You want to win, don't you?" Rikku cried, stopping me.

I looked at her, and then looked back toward the crowd that Tidus had disappeared into, and I nodded.

"Then go," Rikku said, winking at me.

I looked back at Rikku again, and then smiled. She was right.

I had to go. I had to find him again.

**AN: Just for the record, I've decided that the members of the Zanarkand Abes team are going to be named after the players on the Abes in the Final Fantasy X-2 blitzball game. I never actually really played blitzball in FFX2, but I thought it would be kind of cool to have complete control over the characters. So they're all going to be kind of like my original characters, just with borrowed names. Haha, yay. XD**


	4. The Big News

Ahh, this chapter was late! I'm sorry, I've been playing 6 hours of tennis a day, and I've been trying to write at night. Which then results in me being up too late... Oops.

Anyway, I must apologize for this chapter's short length, but the next chapter should be longer. Oh, and thanks again for the reviews! I was so shocked to wake up to my number of reviews! Thanks you guys! Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 4: The Big News**

My mind was blank. I mean, it had to be. One minute I'm being harassed by some drunken guy, and the next I'm chasing after my rescuer, and for reasons that aren't entirely right. After all, as I force my way through crowds, searching for him, I can't help but wonder what he's going to think. I can't just thank him again, can I, and sound sincere? As I walk, I try to remember if I had thanked him properly. Perhaps I can play it off as me just being super thankful.

Finally, after literally walking in circles, I spot him. He's standing off to the side, talking to two other guys. Their laughter floated into the air and meets my ears. I stopped and crossed my arms, a small smile meeting my lips. I wonder if all three of them are blitzball players, members of the supposedly super secret team.

Twisting my smile around into a crooked line, I decide that I can only hope to discover as much about them as I can.

The guys all exchanged some sort of handshake-type thing, and then started in their separate ways. With my lip tucked gently under my lip, I started toward Tidus, still unsure of what I was planning on saying exactly.

He turned around just as I was walking up to him, and I saw his eyes light in recognition immediately.

"Hey," I said, smiling at him. "Um, look, I just wanted to thank you again."

"Really, it's not a problem," Tidus said. "It's a typical Luca thing. They don't have pub culture, or whatever you want to call it."

"Pub culture?"

"Well, you know, here in Zanarkand, drinking's the norm, so we're all a little… calmer about it."

"O-Oh, I'm sorry," I said quickly. "You see, I'm not from Zanarkand. I just got here from Bevelle, actually."

"Oh," Tidus said then, his face lighting in an understanding way. "So Bevelle's probably like Luca, huh?"

"Possibly," I said. I smiled and added, "Drinking's not really the norm."

Tidus laughed and said, "Yeah, in Bevelle it's all wine at dinner and champagne and stuff, right? All that fancy stuff?"

"Yeah, that's the stereotype," I said, shaking my head, a smile on my face.

"You know, you might be the first person I've ever met from Bevelle," Tidus said, looking at me thoughtfully. He laughed then, and said, "And I don't even know you're name."

I felt my smile widen, and I said, "Yuna."

"And, I'm Tidus," Tidus said slowly, in an almost unsure way. He probably figured I already knew his name, which was, of course, a safe assumption. He held out his hand for me to shake, and I took it.

"So Bevelle, huh?" Tidus said, as our hands released. "What are you doing here?"

His question startled me slightly, and probably not for the reasons that it should have. His crystal eyes looked into mine in a naïve way, and I had the feeling that he completely didn't realize that his question was a little nosy. Of course, I should have been startled because I couldn't tell him the truth.

"I-I'm visiting a friend," I said, giving him a smile. I furrowed my eyebrows. Dona's words about using Rikku suddenly came back to me. Sure, Dona had said that using Rikku was 

cheating, but the idea of 'using' Rikku alone was making me a little unsure. I didn't want to use Rikku, after all. So, I'd have to keep Rikku and _The Mode_ out of my conversation with Tidus. I'd also have to keep Dona out as well. I stole a quick peek behind me, and hoped that she wasn't anywhere around. Luckily, I didn't see her. I figured she must still have been inside.

"So what do you think of Zanarkand?" Tidus asked, interrupting my thoughts. I was glad he didn't push me for any more details about my reasoning behind being in Zanarkand.

"I think it's gorgeous!" I answered, happy that I could finally be honest about something. "The sea is gorgeous, the buildings are gorgeous… everything's gorgeous!"

A broad smile lit Tidus' face, and he said, "I figured Zanarkand was too wild for people from Bevelle—hence why I've never met anybody from there."

I laughed and said, "No, most people—well, most people my age, anyway—think Zanarkand is really awesome and trendy and stuff." My smile left my face. Could I sound any dorkier?

Tidus didn't seem to notice my lack of ability to speak, for his smile simply remained on his lips, and he said, "Yeah, I guess people are always saying that Zanarkand is the coolest place in Spira."

"Well, what do you think?" I asked, and a feeling of shock came across me once again. Why was I asking him such a question?

"About Zanarkand?" he asked, returning my shocked look.

"Yeah," I said. "As a native."

"Well, I love it here," he said, and he still looked unsure of his words, as if he was unsure of whether or not he should answer. I swallowed hard. Was my question a little too journalist-ish?

He continued though, which surprised me.

"I think it's really…" he trailed, and looked thoughtful. He laughed then, and said, "I don't know I guess. I haven't really been anywhere other than Zanarkand, except for at blitzball places and stuff, you know." He faced me again, his smile huge, and he said, "And hey, I definitely like Zanarkand better than Luca."

"So what's your favorite thing about Zanarkand?" I asked. Yevon, what was I doing? Conducting the interview right then? I bit my tongue. My ruthless mind, however, was cursing me for not bringing my recorder.

Tidus, however, wasn't entirely hesitant to answer.

"Well it's—well, it's like how you worded it. Pretty. I mean, you can't find a view like this in many cities, am I right?" He pointed toward the channel. "You were looking at it when Kiryl bothered you, right?"

"Yeah, it's really pretty," I answered, purposely repeating his word.

"That's why I chose this place," he said.

"Wait, this is _your _place?"

Tidus' smile lit his face again, and he said, "Yeah. Didn't you know?"

"I didn't know you, um, opened up your place that easily. Aren't you kind of a celebrity around here?"

Tidus shrugged, and he said, "Well, you know, without media involvement and stuff, I can keep a pretty low profile while still being pretty well-known. It's really sweet, actually."

"I see…" I murmured. I definitely knew it wasn't the time to bring up the fact that I was actually with _The Mode_, all with the hope of getting an interview from him.

"So how'd you end up here?" Tidus asked, his smile slowly fading. His smile may have faded, but I couldn't help but feel mine grow. At least he was fairly nosy as well. My smile didn't last long though, as I realized that Tidus must be realizing that I might not be all that I was pretending to be.

"Well, my friend…" I started.

"Tidus!" a voice suddenly shouted from behind us.

We both turned around, only to see two girls waving at him.

Tidus turned back to me and gave me a smile, and said, "Um, maybe I can catch up with you later?"

"Yeah, sure," I said.

"Sorry again for Kiryl!" he said, and he gave me a wave and started toward

"Um, and thanks again!" I simply called after him. I watched him as he walked over to the girls, and began to talk to them. He was rather chummy with them—I figured he knew them well. I watched as they laughed and touched his arm, and I felt my eyes roll. At least I could tell they weren't dating or anything, since they were obviously in the flirtatious mode. I felt my face fall. Why did it even matter what his relationship was with those girls?

I gave my head a quick shake, and decided that for the night, my time with Tidus was up. I suddenly felt an urge to leave the party. After all, I didn't want Dona to be the next girl Tidus talked to.

I started back toward the house—Tidus' house?—and saw Rikku talking to a few people.

"Hey Rikku!" I said, walking up to her.

Rikku quickly excused herself from the people, and she turned to me, her green eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"So, did you get the interview?" she questioned.

"Shh!" I shushed her quickly. "Rikku, I can't just get an interview like that! Especially if Tidus is anti-interview!"

"Which he so totally is," Rikku said, turning very serious. "Did you tell him?"

"No," I said, shaking my head.

"So what did you talk about then? You were with him for a good ten minutes."

"You kept track of how long we were together?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Well, I was trying to make sure Dona didn't see you! Sorry Yunie, but I really don't like her."

"You just have to get to know her," I said, giving her a small smile. "Anyway though, is it okay if we leave?"

"Sure," Rikku said. "Good luck finding your friend though."

"Oh, don't' worry, I'll find her," I said, pulling out my cell phone. "Oh, but let's keep it a secret that I talked to Tidus, okay?"

"I'm already on it," Rikku said, smiling widely. "You're so going to win, Yunie!"

"Please Rikku, it shouldn't be a competition," I said, but a smile lit my face.

"But it so totally is!" Rikku pointed out. "And you're going to win."

"Just don't mention any of this," I said.

"I already told you Yunie," Rikku said, looking at me with a proud smile on her face. "I want to make sure you win."

-

If the completely pink room hadn't been nauseous the day before, it definitely was early in the morning.

Dona sat at my side, smacking on a piece of gum loudly, her hair slightly frizzier than it normally was, being that she flat-ironed it straight every morning. Her eyes were closed, and I was certain that she had fallen asleep on the pink chair that she was sitting on, next to the pink chair that I was sitting on. My own eyes felt heavy, but I reminded myself that I had to stay awake. True, it was very early in the morning (we both were woken up by our cell phones, announcing that Leblanc had big news for us. First it was my cell phone, then Dona's), but I knew I had to stay alert for the "big news."

Finally, after sitting in that large office for what seemed like hours, the door opened, and in walked Leblanc, her stiletto heels clicking loudly on the floor.

"Good morning girls!" she greeted us, and I saw Dona immediately sit up in her chair. "I am very happy to see you bright and early!"

"Good morning," Dona and I greeted her in unison.

"I have very happy news," Leblanc said, as she took a seat at her desk across from us. "Very happy news. This weekend, I have arranged for the two of you to be audience members onboard an evening cruise!"

Dona and I exchanged glances. True, I was ecstatic at the thought of a lovely evening cruise on the seas of Zanarkand. I just didn't understand why this was "big news."

"But this cruise isn't just any cruise," Leblanc continued, a smile wide on her pink, glossy lips. "It's actually going to put on by the Zanarkand Abes' sponsors! For the Abes. Which means, this is your in, you guys!"

"That's great!" Dona said, her eyes sparkling even more than mine were. "But actually Leblanc, we were able to meet some of the Abes yesterday!"

I felt my face drop. Why was Dona bringing that up? I swallowed and bit my lip. It made sense that we would tell Leblanc though—Leblanc would be happy to know that we were trustworthy and hard-workers. I just thought it would be better to surprise Leblanc with the interview.

"Really?" Leblanc asked, her eyes looking from Dona to me, and then back to Dona. "Tell me all about it!"

"Well, Yuna has this friend who hooked us up," Dona explained quickly. "I met a good half of the team!"

A half? Dona had met an entire half? I'd only met two! I reminded myself that one of them was Tidus though.

"Did you meet Tidus?" Leblanc asked. I felt my eyes widen. Was I supposed to tell Leblanc, and Dona as well?

"No," Dona admitted. "I met like everybody _but _him. None of the guys knew where he was."

"Did you tell them you were with _The Mode_?" Leblanc asked, not even giving me time to decide what my response would be.

"No," Dona answered.

"Did you?" she asked me. I figured she must have assumed that I was with Dona the whole night. As much as I wanted to show Dona up and announce that I'd met Tidus, I decided to keep it to myself. Besides, Leblanc seemed impressed enough as it was. And Rikku was _my _friend, after all.

"No," Dona answered.

"We decided it'd be better not to," I finally said, as I figured I'd better say something before Leblanc only thought that Dona was trying.

"Good," Leblanc said. "Think of it as "undercover journalism". The guys can't know. So even on the cruise, I have you two down as daughters of a sponsor who can't make it."

"Daughters of a sponsor?" I asked, my eyebrows raised at the idea.

"So like… are we supposed to be sisters?" Dona asked.

Leblanc smiled and said, "Go ahead and tell them one of you was adopted."

"I call the not adopted one!" Dona yelled out immaturely.

I felt my lip fold under my front teeth again. As of now, there seemed to be a lot of lying behind this occupation. I let out a sigh and hoped that neither Leblanc or Dona noticed. It was stupid of me to be shocked. I knew going into my major that journalism included a lot of "undercover work." I felt a smile grow on my lips as I remembered that the real reason I had ever wanted to become a journalist was because of the undercover work. I'd originally wanted to be a detective.

Deciding that lying was necessary, I simply let my smile show, and I said, "What would you like for us to do until the cruise?"

A smile curled onto Leblanc's lips, and she said, "Oh, just some little tasks."

Dona and I exchanged glances, and I knew that if Leblanc wasn't sitting there, Dona would have let out a moan, for we could both tell from Leblanc's smile that the "little tasks" wouldn't be fun "little tasks."

Sure enough, Leblanc went on to explain how we would be making copies, working on squeezing advertisements into the layout (a tedious job that even the janitors probably wouldn't help out with, no matter what their pay raise would be), and making latte runs for Leblanc.

As she explained the tasks to us, I couldn't help but let my mind drift and think of the upcoming cruise. It didn't seem as if the weekend could come soon enough.


	5. The Cruise

Yesterday, I got home from tennis, and seriously just sat down and wrote. I wrote and wrote and wrote. I then went to my evening tennis lesson, came back, and wrote some more. I wrote this whole chapter and most of the next. It was the first time that has happened to me in waaaay too long. So yeah, I'm pretty happy with myself. Haha.

Also, to make up for the last chapter's shortness, this chapter is pretty long. So that's good, right? Haha, let me know if they get _too _long!

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Cruise**

"I can't believe how boring these jobs are!" Dona cried, as soon as she was done stuffing a letter into an envelope. We were both sitting in an all-silver office area, which was located in the basement of the building, amidst boxes and musty old issues of _The Mode_. We'd been stuffing envelopes with a letter for all _Mode _employees for Leblanc for literally hours. Actually, I had drifted off into a daydream about how wondrous it would be to have Leblanc's job, but Dona's statement caused me to return to reality.

"I know," I said, leaning my head in my hand. "But this _is _typical intern stuff."

"We should get to hang out with the Abes all day long," Dona said, smiling. "That way we could be one step closer to getting the interview!"

"Yeah," I agreed. "But hey, that whole cruise thing sounds very promising."

"Definitely," Dona said, and she nodded vigorously. "I can't wait to see the guys I met again. Although you know, they were all kind of goofballs. Like, they wouldn't really talk to me, because they were too busy playing some video game."

"Really?" I questioned.

"Yeah. Did you even meet any Abes, Yuna?"

"Um, I met one," I said. "He was drunk though and kind of mean."

"That sucks," Dona said. "But hey, we could get one drunk and then interview him!"

"A drunken interview?" I questioned, shaking my head. "That doesn't seem right."

"Well, I bumped into this girl at the party," Dona said, and she completely stopped working and turned to face me, "and she said that the guys are super secretive about everything. She said she's slept with like half the team—."

"Whoa, wait," I said, laughing. "You're trusting some…"

"Slut? Yeah, I know Yuna, but anyway, she said that even though she's been with all of them, she still knows like nothing about them."

"Has she been with Tidus?" I asked.

To this, Dona looked at me and said, "No one 'gets' with Tidus. Well, they do, but… According to what I heard, Tidus is definitely the most secretive out of all of them. He's quiet, although supposedly he has this competitive side that makes him seem like he has a big head at times. The guys told me though that his one and only love is blitzball. Girls come second. But since he's everybody's favorite, he has his pick when it comes to girls. I don't know, the guys got all rant-y when I asked about Tidus. They said for the most part, he was a good guy though. Of course, then they all got suspicious as to why I was asking them so many questions, so I had to leave. That sucks that you didn't meet any guys other than that one."

"Yeah, it does suck," I said. I smiled though, mostly because I couldn't conceal that smile any longer. Poor Dona had no clue that I had already spoken with Tidus. Poor Dona didn't even know that Tidus had introduced himself to me! I felt my smile grow a little wider, and probably a little more ridiculous, as I thought to myself _Heck, I _touched _Tidus. _He had shaken my hand, after all.

"You okay over there, Yuna?" Dona asked, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm just…"

"Daydreaming about Baralai?" Dona asked, her smug smile returning.

Baralai.

"Shoot, I forgot to call him!" I cried, and I quickly took my phone out of my handbag and flipped it open, only to see that I had at least five missed calls from Baralai.

"Okay, if you weren't thinking about Baralai, who were you thinking about?" Dona asked me, with a suspicious look on her face.

"Baralai is going to be so mad," I just said, ignoring her question. "I promised I'd call him as soon as I got here, and it's two days later, and I…"

"Call him then!" Dona urged. "No one's down here but just us."

"You think it's okay?" I asked. "Should I sneak to the bathroom or something?"

"No, just call," Dona said. "Hurry, we can't keep true love waiting!"

I shot a glare at her, but quickly dialed Baralai's number.

"Yuna?" Baralai's voice was suddenly in my ear.

"Hey Baralai!" I greeted him quickly. "Hey, I'm so sorry for not calling you sooner! Everything has been super hectic here! I'm lucky to sleep at night!" Okay, so _that _was a slight exaggeration.

"It's fine," Baralai said, his voice surprisingly calm. "I actually just wanted to tell you some big news."

More big news? I felt a sigh release itself from my closed teeth.

Seeming unsure at my silence, Baralai simply continued talking. "I'll be able to visit you in two weeks!"

"Oh, that's great!" I said, feeling a smile light my face.

"I can come two weeks from Friday, and stay the whole weekend. Do you have the weekends off?"

"Um, it kind of depends," I said. "But I should have plenty of free time!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dona pick her phone up as well, but I didn't have time to wonder who she was calling, for Baralai continued.

"I was thinking we could go to the Spira Amusement Park there. What do you think?"

"Sure," I said. "We can do whatever you want."

"I'm really looking forward to it," Baralai said. "Are you sure it'll work out?"

"Positive," I answered.

"I can be there right away Friday morning."

"It sounds great," I said.

Suddenly though, I heard the clicking of heels on the ground, and I felt myself freeze, while Baralai went on about some restaurant he thought we should eat at.

"Um, I-I have to go," I said then, but I wasn't quick enough. In walked Leblanc, with her arms folded across her chest.

"Yuna," she said, just as I hurriedly clicked my phone shut. "We have a strict no-cell phone policy here."

"I'm so sorry," I said. "I-I didn't know."

"You're supposed to be working," Leblanc said. A smile lit her face though, and she said, "Actually, why don't I give you girls the rest of the day off? I have to say, I'm very impressed with you two." She smiled especially at Dona, and laughed, and said, "This is just what I was hoping would happen. At this rate, you two won't be friends at the end of the summer."

Her words had me rather taken aback, but she didn't seem to notice, for she turned on her heels, pulled her own cell phone out, and started laughing at whatever the person she was talking to was saying.

Dona and I sat in silence until we heard the elevator ding to signal that she was gone, and I turned to Dona, a frown on my face.

"You called her, didn't you?" I demanded. "How could you?"

"What do you mean?" Dona simply said back to me, her right nostril lifted in disgust. "I did no such thing."

"Then who were you calling?" I asked, and I folded my arms across my chest angrily.

"Barthello," Dona simply said. "Or at least, that's who I'm calling now." With that, Dona stood up, and pulled her phone out, and dialed a number.

"No cell phones, remember?" I said, but Dona simply brushed right past me, slinging her handbag—a gaudy gold bag that she'd purchased at the Zanarkand mall—on her shoulder.

"I'm having lunch with Barthello," Dona said. "I'll see you at the suite later, Yuna."

Now I was completely taken aback. I simply stood there, and watched as Dona disappeared into the elevator. With my face still twisted in confusion, I turned to my desk and tidied it up a bit. Then, I trudged back to our hotel by myself, before I finally called Rikku.

-

"She sounds like a jerk," Rikku said, taking a big bite of her ice cream.

"She's not usually like this," I said. "Well, usually we work as a team on things. Dona's good at things I'm not good at. Like… Like this whole secretive thing? The whole undercover thing? Dona's better at that than me. But I'm a better writer. It's too bad Dona can't just get the interview set up, and then I'd go from there."

"No Yunie, you so don't need her!" Rikku said. "Trust me, you'll be fine."

"I feel wrong doing this though," I admitted, finally. It was a worry that I'd had in my head since Leblanc first announced our task, but I'd kept it inside, since I knew—and always had known—that it was simply part of journalism.

"Don't feel wrong," Rikku said, rolling her eyes. "It's just a lame marketing thing that the Abes do. They need to spread themselves out to the rest of Spira! They could be the most popular team in Spira! Even more than those Goer jerks!"

"Well, if that's how they get people to go to their games…" I started.

"No Yuna, to get people to go to their games, they need to do a spread in a magazine. Pictures of them shirtless would be nice too."

It was my turn to roll my eyes.

"So you think it's okay if I trick them into doing the interview?"

"No. Not if you trick them," Rikku said. "But if you befriend them and then announce that you think they should do the interview… I think that might work."

"So you think I should gain their trust, and then hope I don't ruin their trust when I tell them who I really am and what I really want?"

"Come on Yunie, they're _guys_. Guys don't care. Guys are forgiving and clueless. And believe me, these guys are super clueless. You can practically tell them that you're an interviewer without telling them, and they'll never figure it out. You could drop a hundred hints, and they'd still not catch on. Believe me."

"What about Tidus?" I asked.

"Tidus is… Well, Tidus is the captain. And Tidus is the star. And Tidus is the best. And Tidus is a legend. And Tidus is also the biggest stickler on this kind of thing. But I don't think Tidus doesn't want to interview because of the marketing ploy. I think he's just being selfish. He likes how he's got this air of mystery around him. He thinks it makes him more desirable. And, he thinks that if he's in a magazine and stuff, it'll make him a sell-out or something. He doesn't realize that it'll just make him three hundred more times popular than he is now. So I 

think if you befriended him, and got to root of his fear of interviews, then you could totally get him to do it."

"You think?" I questioned. "Would he be hard to befriend?"

"Well, maybe," Rikku said, shrugging. "How was it when you talked to him? Was he nice?"

"Yeah, he was very nice," I said.

"Did he act bored with the conversation?" Rikku questioned me.

"No," I said. "But he was very guarded with the way he spoke. It was as if he was running things to say through his head and filtering it so that he didn't give away too much information."

"He's perfect at doing that," Rikku said, rolling her eyes once more. "But he does have a flaw: you can _always _tell when he has more to say. He'll look into your eyes as if he's trying to reach into your soul and see right through you, and then he'll go from there. If he trusts you, he'll open up more."

"If he can see right through me, how will he ever be able to trust me?" I questioned. "Since, you know, I'm not entirely trustworthy."

"Remember, he's clueless," Rikku said, a small smile creeping onto her lips. "I'm just saying that you can tell how much he's telling you buy how long he thinks about what he's going to say. Chances are, the longer he looks into your eyes, the less he's telling you. That's just how you can gage him."

"I get it," I murmured softly.

"You know though Yuna…" Rikku said very slowly then, and her eyes looked at her half-eaten ice cream. "Tidus has this way of getting into your skin. He does it to his opponents, but I've seen him do it to other people too. He can wedge himself in there and you'll never know he's in there until he's just _bothering _you. Out in the blitz sphere, he does little things that just irk his opponents. It's hard to give you an example, because he does it so sneakily. You'll never know he's there until one day you wake up and he's under your skin and you can't get him out. Do I make sense?"

I laughed, and said, "Um, kind of…"

"Just be careful," Rikku said, her tone very serious. "I don't want you that to happen to you. You need to be in control of Tidus, not the other way around."

"You know Rikku, I'm impressed," I said, smiling at her. "Have you ever thought about going into journalism? You really know how to read people!"

Rikku let out an embarrassed little laugh, and she said, "I only know Tidus." Her cheeks began to turn crimson then, and she said, "Last year, I had a massive crush on him."

"Oh?" I said, my smile quickly disappearing.

"Yeah," Rikku said, shaking her head. "It didn't turn out so well. Let's just say Tidus and I don't talk anymore."

"Wow…" I said, unsure of what else to say. "That's too bad."

"Yeah, it is," Rikku said. "But don't worry, he's your age, not mine. And it's not like you want to date him, so it should be good."

"Right," I said, nodding. "It should be just fine."

"So go out there and get that interview!" Rikku said, a smile wide on her face, which instantly changed the mood.

"I will!" I said. "This weekend, on that cruise!"

"Exactly!" Rikku said. "Beat Dona to the ground!"

I laughed. "Will do," I said, and my smile simply rose to show my determination. I would beat Dona.

-

"This is just a little ridiculous," I said through clenched teeth to Dona.

"I know," she agreed. "But Leblanc's word is law."

"I know."

The two of us were standing side-by-side as we walked up the plank that led to the cruise. Leblanc had ordered that we wear matching red dresses, which were actually rather cute. They were knee length and strapless, and full of ruffles, but they were cute. They weren't gaudy or ridiculous in themselves, but the fact that we had _matching _dresses was ridiculous. Apparently since we didn't look like sisters, Leblanc was hoping that dressing the same would make us blend a little better. Instead, we simply looked ridiculous. I wanted to get as far away from Dona as fast as possible, and not because I had evil intentions, but because I didn't want people to realize that we were in matching dresses.

"There are way more people on here than I thought there would be," Dona said, her arms crossed. Sure enough, there were quite a few crowds of people.

"How will we find the blitzball players?" Dona continued. "This wasn't very well thought up."

"How about we split up," I said. "That way, we can cover more ground."

With her smug smile lighting her lips again, Dona said, "You're just mad because last time you only met one player. So you want to try again."

"Sure, whatever," I said.

"Okay, you get the front of the ship, and I'll take the back," Dona said, her smile still smug."Then, we'll meet back up for the awards ceremony and go from there."

"But there aren't any people in the front!" I said, not even bothering to hide the slight whine in my voice.

"Precisely," Dona said, and she gave me a light shove toward the front. "Toodles Yuna, and good luck!"

I crossed my arms haughtily, shot her a glare, and then headed toward the front. At least my goal of separating from Dona had been a success.

As I made my way to the front of the cruise ship though, I found myself thanking Dona. Despite the fact that I had been in Zanarkand for an entire week, the city still managed to take my breath away. _Especially _at night. And _especially _at the sea. The view from Tidus' place had been spectacular, but from the ship, the city night was even more breathtaking.

I wandered off to the front deck, which was completely empty. I could hear the live band that had been playing at the entrance faintly in the background, but otherwise it was completely quiet, except for the sound of the surprisingly calm water hitting up and hitting the boat. The city lights shone all around me, and their lights echoed in the water. It was almost as if the entire world was made up of lights, for they also were shining brightly in the sky. I could finally understand why people loved Zanarkand. It was beautiful.

"Well if it isn't the girl from Bevelle."

The voice came from behind me, and I turned around quickly, not surprised to see Tidus standing there. He was clad in a suit, and his head was cocked slightly to the side, as if he couldn't believe it was me.

"Well if it isn't…Tidus," I said, purposely pretending to have difficulty remembering his name.

He smiled at this, his blue eyes shining in a rather curious way.

"Mind if I ask you what you're doing here?" he asked me, and he stepped forward until he was at the very front with me.

"I'm just taking in the view," I said. "I can't get over how breathtaking this city is."

He laughed, and looked at the ground, and said, "No, I meant, why are you on this cruise?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, for it was all I could think to do. I felt my heart begin to race. Why was I on the cruise again?

"It's for blitzball players," Tidus said. A large smile broke onto his lips and he said, "You know I play blitzball, right?"

"Yeah, you mentioned it," I said, hoping he had. I knew it was foolish to pretend I didn't know he was a blitzball player. I _was _on a cruise for blitzball players, after all.

"Well, this is a cruise for blitzball players put on by our sponsors…"

I decided I'd have to go with Leblanc's lie. I decided I'd modify it though.

"I'm sorry," I said. "My friend's dad is actually a sponsor. Usually he comes to these kinds of things, but this year he couldn't make it. So I came with my friend."

"Oh," Tidus said, and I wondered if he was entirely convinced.

"And I'm so happy I got to come, too," I said, deciding to change the subject. "This city is simply spectacular."

"It is, isn't it?" Tidus said, although his words came out more like a statement. He leaned on the railing of the ship, standing just to my right, and looked out across the sea. "I wouldn't want to live anywhere else."

He turned to face me, and said, "However, it's hard to see the stars. That's my only complaint."

I looked up at the sky, as did he, and I said, "Well, if you squint you can see them."

He laughed and squinted, and said, "Yeah, that makes it a little easier to see them. Actually, right before the sun goes up, the lights go off, and then you can see the stars. But only for like ten minutes. It's the best ten minutes Zanarkand has."

"Really?"

"Yeah, if you think Zanarkand at night is beautiful with the lights, wait 'til you see it at night without the lights. Now that's breathtaking."

"Wow, I'll have to see it sometime," I said, turning to face him. "What time is that usually at?"

Tidus looked thoughtful, and he said, "It depends on the season. Around now, it's about ten minutes past four in the morning."

"That early?" I said.

"Or that late," he said, a smirk on his face. "After an all-nighter, you know. It's a nice thing to see."

"I couldn't imagine being up until four in the morning," I said, shaking my head.

"Well, you know, Zanarkand never sleeps," Tidus said, laughing lightly.

"That must be tiring!" I said.

"Somewhat," Tidus agreed with a nod. "But for the most part, it's a blast. Every hour, there's something different about the city. There's always something new to see or do."

"I think I want to live here," I said. "I never thought I'd want to, but I do. I really do."

"Most people don't really see Zanarkand for its beauty," Tidus said, giving me a weird look. "Usually all I hear is stupid stuff like how Zanarkand is all about blitzball—which is great, don't get me wrong—but there's so much to this city. Like the guys, they never take time to realize how great this place is. They're too busy going from one party to the next, getting wasted and spending all their time in blitzball arenas. It seems like such a waste."

"Yeah, that is kind of wasteful," I didn't hesitate to agree.

"And most tourists just want to see a real Zanarkand blitzball game or go shopping because the best stores are here or whatever. Or they want to go to the beach and make messes and get wasted. It's all such a waste."

"Definitely," I said.

"Which is why I come up here every year on this cruise," Tidus continued. "So I can look at the city. And so I can get some peace. It's hectic elsewhere on this ship."

"Yeah," I said.

"Which," Tidus continued, almost cutting me off, "is why I was so shocked to see someone out here. And you of all people."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," I found myself saying, mostly because he did. It kind of hurt to hear him say that.

He smiled and said, "I didn't mean it like a bad thing. It's just… I've never met anybody at one of my parties who didn't know who I was, that's all."

I almost laughed at his words. Then, though, I remembered that I hadn't exactly known it was him right away.

Tidus looked at me out of the corner of his eyes, looking rather confused at my silence, and I could only wonder what he was thinking about. He simply took his eyes off of me, and continued.

"Usually people flock me and go on and on about how great I am, you know. It gets really annoying. But you were different. It really shocked me."

Unsure of how to respond, I just smiled at him, and said, "Well, I can't say I've ever watched much blitzball."

He laughed, shook his head, and said, "It was refreshing, actually. Especially lately. Paparazzi and the like have been all over all of us lately. It's been tiring. And the girls…" He shook his head and looked rather disgusted. "Let's just say it gets old."

I smiled at his words, and looked over at him again, only to feel my smile disappear. He was leaning against the railing with his head in his hand, his annoyed expression still on his face.

I leaned forward next to him, and gave him a smile and said, "Do you want to talk?" Okay, so maybe "talk" wasn't exactly the word I meant, but before I could even think, it just came out.

"Talk?" Tidus said, turning toward me with a smile on his face. He opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but he quickly shut it, his smile disappearing as well. We remained that way for some time, just looking at each other, with no noise except for the sound of the waves crashing lightly on the ship.

After a moment of this, Tidus suddenly leaned forward toward me, and I reacted without even thinking: my eyes closed, and I leaned forward as well. It wasn't long before his lips reached mine, and I felt all feeling disappear from my body. My mind went blank, and I couldn't even fathom the truth: I was kissing Tidus.


	6. The Kiss

Woo, this story is really starting to get going! I'm getting pretty excited for it. Haha. I was telling my mom the whole plot today. Haha.

Anyway, I don't really have much to say, so thanks for the reviews, and enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 6: The Kiss**

Subconsciously, I knew that I was kissing Tidus. Somewhere deep within me, I knew I was kissing him. And for some reason, it didn't matter. I couldn't stop.

We finally pulled apart then, our eyes wide as if neither of us could believe what had just happened.

We looked at each other for some time, neither of us speaking. Finally, Tidus blinked a few times, and then took a step away from me, and said, "Um… I guess this is all out of order and stuff but can I… have your number?  
"My number?" I just said dumbly.

"Yeah…" Tidus said, shrugging.

"Tidus!" a voice behind us suddenly said. Both Tidus and I jumped, and immediately swung our heads to see who the newcomer was. It was a guy dressed in a suit much like Tidus'.

"Hey, the ceremony's starting!" he cried to Tidus. "Hurry up!"

"Later, okay?" Tidus said. "Find me later."

"S-Sure," I said. Tidus gave me a smile then, and jogged off to join his friend. I watched until they disappeared, before I turned toward the sea again.

Without realizing what I was doing, I took my hand and gingerly touched my lips. Had that really happened? Just like that? Was that even allowed? So many questions popped into my mind, in typical journalist fashion. The who/what/where part was easy to answer. Tidus/kissed me/on the front deck of a cruise ship. The troubling part was the how. How had that happened?

Slowly, I turned around and faced the back of the ship. I had to get back for that ceremony. Dona would be wondering where I was otherwise. With my heart beating in my throat, I hurriedly rushed off in the direction that Tidus had disappeared into.

-

"Where were you, somewhere off daydreaming?" Dona said nastily as I found her in the rather packed ceremonial hall on the ship.

"Yeah, kind of," I said, for in reality, it felt as if I had just lived a daydream. In fact, I was starting to think it was just a daydream.

Suddenly, clapping erupted all around me, and I noticed that Dona was clapping at my side. I clapped as well, despite the fact that my head felt all hazy and I had no idea what I was clapping for. I found out soon enough, for a group of about fifteen guys clad in suits suddenly stepped up onto the stage that had previously hosted the band. One of those guys was Tidus, so I figured it had to be the Abes. I also noted Kiryl, who looked just as he had the night before. I felt my nostril raise in disgust, so I quickly focused my attention on Tidus. As soon as I looked at Tidus though, I felt my heart speed again, so I quickly looked away from him, and decided to focus instead on the back of the head of the guy in front of me. At least that guy wasn't bringing any emotions out of me that I didn't really desire to feel.

Eventually though, my eyes drifted back to Tidus, who was smiling widely and clapping at something one of his teammates was saying into the microphone. I couldn't hear anything, however, except my beating heart. It was honestly as if the sound my heart was making was drowning out everything else in the room. In fact, I was waiting for Dona to ask me why my heart was pounding as loud as it was. I decided to busy myself with thinking up excuses to tell Dona.

Sadly, that didn't distract me long, and my eyes were back on Tidus. He had asked for my number, and I had been awfully hesitant to give it to him, but now that I'd had some time to think, I couldn't help but realize how foolish I'd been. This was my chance! My chance to befriend Tidus! Of course, randomly kissing him wasn't exactly my idea of "befriending", but what did it matter? I felt a smile come onto my face. At least I was closer to the interview than Dona was.

"Yevon he is dreamy," I heard Dona say at my side as sounds and noises slowly began to enter my head once again.

"Who?" I questioned, despite the fact that I was fighting to return to reality.

"Tidus," Dona said.

I turned to her, a shocked expression on my face. I wished I could tell her how hard it was for me to keep from expressing what a great kisser he was. I felt my cheeks redden at the thought.

I realized then that the team had exited the stage, and they were shaking hands with numerous others—people I supposed to be sponsors. Tidus was off to the side, talking to a group of three older men, who were laughing and patting him on the back.

"This is our chance," Dona said, raising her eyebrows at me. "I'm going to go talk to Tidus."

"I don't think now is a good time," I said, shaking my head quickly. "I mean, look, he's busy with those other guys."

"So?" Dona said. "At this rate, Yuna, you are never going to be able to even interview the bench warmers." With that, she raised her perfectly plucked eyebrows at me again, and started off toward Tidus.

I watched her, with my heart sinking with each step she took for reasons quite unknown to me. After all, it wasn't as if he would randomly grab her by the shoulders and kiss her, right? I felt my heart drop even further, and I wondered if he'd realize that she was wearing the same dress that I was wearing. With my face twisting into a frown, I could only hope that the whole "clueless" thing that Rikku had talked about was true, and that he wouldn't take notice in something like a dress.

Still, as I watched her approach him, I found envy growing inside of me. It wasn't envy that Dona was talking to him, either. It was rather envy that she was talking to him instead of me. If I was talking to him, I'd be giving him my number.

My lip tucked under my front teeth in determination (a habit I really had to stop, especially since it chapped my lips and ruined my lip gloss) and I decided that as soon as Tidus was away from Dona, I would march up to him and somehow slip him my number. How I was going to do that, I didn't know, but I was, and that was all that mattered.

Dona walked right up to Tidus, tapped him on the shoulder, smiled charmingly, and then proceeded to introduce herself. I watched from a safe distance, wondering what she was saying to him.

He gave her a polite smile and shook her hand, and she continued to talk. I noticed as she touched his arm in a flirtatious way, but I only smiled, for the look on Tidus' face was undoubtedly that of annoyance. Still, he acted politely enough, but eventually he said something to her, his polite smile still on his face, and started off toward the back of the room.

Dona watched him as he walked away with a smirk on her lips, before marching back over to me.

"Did you see that?" she asked me with her hands on her hips. "I just shook hands with Tidus."

"What did you say?" I asked, deciding to pretend that I was impressed with her.

"I just told him I was a daughter of a sponsor," Dona said, but I saw her face fall slightly. "And he asked me if I was from Bevelle and said that he met my friend…"

"What friend?" I asked immediately, and hoped that Dona didn't notice that my voice raised slightly. Had Tidus just blown my cover?

"I don't know," Dona said, giving me a suspicious look. "Did you meet Tidus?"

"No," I said, shaking my head, not even hesitating before lying. "Maybe there's another girl from Bevelle somewhere here?"

"Probably," Dona said, looking around. "I should find her."

"Yeah, you should," I said, and I pointed toward a slightly older woman who was probably in her late twenties. "Do you think it's her?"

"Probably," Dona said, crossing her arms unhappily. "Tidus seemed more concerned about her than with me. I'm going to ask her if she's from Bevelle."

"Okay, sounds good!" I said, hoping I didn't come off as too eager for Dona to talk with that lady.

Dona said nothing more to me, and she simply stomped over to the unsuspecting lady. I looked ahead, and noticed that Tidus was simply grabbing a glass of water, and thanking the cruise worker who handed it to him.

I glanced back at Dona, only to see that she was in an intense conversation with the lady, and I quickly slid over toward Tidus, my eyes intense on him.

He turned around just as I was walking up, and quickly set his glass down on the table. He gave me an expression that was quite hard to read, and he walked toward me quickly. Before I could say anything, he reached out and grabbed my arm, and I noticed he had a felt-tip marker in his hand.

"I'm sure you're old-fashioned," he said, as he took my hand and began to scribble a number onto it, "but now you have my number. So give me a call sometime."

He finished scrawling out his number on my hand, put the cap back on his marker, and grabbed his drink again. He started toward the doorway then, where I saw the rest of his team disappearing into, and with that, he was gone. I had a feeling he wasn't going to returning, either.

I looked down at my hand, where he'd scrawled his number, and smiled. His numbers were messy but readable, and I noticed that he'd crossed his sevens, something that I'd heard they did in Zanarkand. I smiled and looked back toward the doorway that he had disappeared into.

I heard someone coming toward me though, and I could only suppose that it was Dona. I carefully folded my hand into a fist, hoping the ink wouldn't smudge, and turned to greet her.

"She's not from Bevelle," Dona said. "But she said she heard that someone here was. Anyway, did you happen to see where Tidus went?"

"I-I saw him heading out. I think we're landing back on the dock soon."

Dona glared at me as if I'd done something wrong, and she said, "This sucks. I barely got to talk to him! Leblanc's going to be so pissed." With that, Dona took a few steps away from me, and pulled out her phone.

"Who are you calling?" I asked her.

"Leblanc. To tell her that we failed miserably."

"When did Leblanc and you get so tight?" I demanded. "And how do you know I failed?"

"Oh please, you didn't even talk to Tidus," Dona said.

I felt my stomach clench angrily. Tidus' number was _literally _in my hand. His lips had just been on mine! And to top it all off, I had talked to Tidus. I bit my lip angrily. I wasn't going to tell Dona or Leblanc. They would just have to wait to read my interview with him.

"Hey L," I heard Dona say. "Yeah, I talked to Tidus, but he wasn't the least bit interested. No, I didn't tell him who I was! Yuna? Yeah right, she's being really stupid."

I simply cocked my head to the side. Dona didn't know if I'd talked to Tidus or not, and I had the feeling that she didn't care. She was too wrapped up in herself. I pressed my lips together. Leblanc was right. At this rate, we wouldn't be friends at the end of the summer.

And as anger began to boil in my stomach, I was okay with that.

-

As soon as we returned to the hotel, I rushed to the bathroom, and entered Tidus' number in my phone. Then, as much as I dreaded it, I washed his number off of my hand, glad that it came off nice and easily. In all honesty though, I wished I could keep that ink on my hand forever to remind me of the night. The strange, bizarre night where everything seemed to go my way. But I didn't feel like explaining to Dona why there was a phone number on my hand.

I put my pajamas on and went straight to bed, while Dona took over the bathroom. I laid awake, staring at the ceiling, running the night's events over and over in my head. I still couldn't figure out how it had happened.

I thought about calling him, actually. I even thought about texting him. Something. He obviously wanted me to bad enough. I wondered if he was expecting it. I was afraid that Dona would come out of the bathroom and demand to know who I was talking to though. A text would be my safest bet.

I started a text, even. After all, Tidus didn't have _my _number. I could just shoot him a text, and he'd have it. Then he could call me.

Just as I started to compose a message though, my phone suddenly began to ring. I felt my face drop, for it was then that I remembered that I… well, that I had a boyfriend. Calling me was Baralai.

"H-Hey!" I said, sitting straight up in my bed.

"Hi Yuna," he said. "I know it's getting late, but I've been waiting for your call, and…"

"And I was actually just calling you," I lied easily. "How are you?"

"Fine," he said. "How was your day?"

"Busy," I answered truthfully. "Get this. Leblanc made Dona and I go on this cruise in _matching _dresses so we could pretend to be sisters. It was ridiculous. So we split up and didn't say we were sisters."

"Oh?" Baralai said. "What were you two on a cruise for where you had to pretend to be sisters?"

"We're trying to interview blitzball players," I said. "Blitzball players that don't want to be interviewed."

"That sounds horrible," Baralai said.

"It's not so bad," I said.

"Blitzball players are so… I don't know, nasty and uncivilized, aren't they? Especially in Zanarkand."

"No, they're actually fairly classy," I said, smiling despite my attempt not to. "Well, actually one of them isn't, but there's one who is super nice." I felt myself stop. I had to stop talking about Tidus to Baralai. My heart began to pound. What I had done with Tidus was very, very wrong.

I felt as if I had just ran into a brick wall. What had I been thinking?

"Yuna? You still there?" Baralai's voice suddenly said in my ear.

"Y-Yeah, I'm sorry," I said, and I wondered if Baralai could sense that I was apologizing for more than just my silence.

"It's alright," Baralai said. "I just thought I lost service or something."

"No, I'm still here," I said, staring straight ahead unblinkingly. What had I done? Interviewing Tidus was part of the job. Befriending Tidus was part of getting the interview. But kissing him? That wasn't in the job description.

"Well, it's kind of late here…" Baralai said then. "Is it okay if we talk more tomorrow?"

"Yeah, of course!" I said hurriedly.

"Alright. I'll talk to you more tomorrow night. Goodnight, Yuna."

"Goodnight," I said, a smile crawling back onto my lips.

"And uh, I love you," Baralai's voice said, softly.

"I love you too," I answered, much less hesitantly. How I managed to say those words so quickly was beyond me, but I had. Very easily.

"Bye," Baralai said. I said "bye" as well, and then he hung up, and I followed.

I set my phone down on the bed slowly, and looked at it. In that phone, was Tidus' number. What was I doing?

"It's for the interview," I said out loud then, and I slammed down on the bed, and allowed my head to hit the pillow hard.

I heard the door to the bathroom open then, and out stepped Dona, wearing a trendy pink nightgown similar to the one I was wearing. We'd bought them both during our shopping outing, when I was still easily able to refer to Dona as my best friend. Now, as we sat there in our similar nightgowns, on separate beds, I couldn't help but feel further away from her than I ever had before.

I looked down at my knee-length nightgown. Unlike Dona's, it was blue. The top half of it was solid, and the bottom, which flared out in soft pleats, was covered with a heart pattern. Hearts.

"Dona, I don't know what love means," I said, my eyes on the ceiling.

"What?" Dona said, and she gave me a look as if to say that she couldn't believe I was talking to her. She was holding her left hand in front of her, and she was putting polish on her nails with her right.

"I don't understand it anymore," I said. "Love."

"You've never understood it," Dona said, turning her complete attention back to her nails.

"I love _The Mode _more than anything, or so I think…"

"Well, you certainly don't act like it," Dona said. "Are you even _trying _to get the interview? Are you trying to make it easy for me or something?"

"Dona, I'm trying so hard," I said, shaking my head at her. "What happened to you? You're so… so…"

"So what Yuna?" Dona asked me. "Right now, I'm your competition, and you're my competition. That's all it is."

"We're friends though!" I cried. "I shouldn't have to hide stuff from you, and you shouldn't have to hide stuff from me!"

"Yuna, what is this about?" Dona asked me.

"It's about us," I said. Okay, I didn't know how the conversation went from me trying to share my guilt over kissing Tidus with Dona to me discussing Dona and my friendship with Dona, but it had. And I decided to go with it.

"Yuna, hun," Dona said.

"Hun… Wait, Dona, you've been…"

"I've been what, Yuna? Seriously, can't you see I'm busy?" She nodded toward the fingernail polish in her hand.

"Never mind," I said. "You've just been different, that's all."

"And you too, Yuna," Dona pointed out very quickly. "You haven't even been trying. You haven't even given me proper competition!"

I wanted to laugh.

"Dona, I am too trying," I said. "You have no idea."

"What, are you doing it behind my back?" Dona asked me, and she shot me a glare.

"Kind of," I said, after a slight pause.

"Well that's just fine!" Dona said, her voice suddenly raising. I noticed she was glaring even harder at me, and she screwed the lid on her polish very quickly and tightly, slammed it on her nightstand, and turned her lamp off.

"D-Dona?" I said, jumping slightly at her actions.

"I'm not talking to you, Yuna," Dona's voice was heard.

"Fine," I said, rolling my eyes. I turned my own lamp off and put the covers over me, only to bite my lip hard and jump back up. I stole a glance at Dona, who I knew was still not sleeping, and I grabbed my phone. I left my bed and headed toward the door leading to the balcony.

"Where are you going?" Dona asked, her tone snotty.

"I'm going to call Baralai," I said, returning her nasty tone.

Dona said nothing, and I could only imagine that she was rolling her eyes at me.

I walked out onto the balcony and felt a cool gust of wind. A smile lit my face as I walked to the edge of the balcony, which overlooked that beautiful sea. Was it only an hour ago that I was on that cruise, with Tidus so close to me?

My eyes closed dreamily at the thought, but I quickly snapped out of it. I flipped my phone open, and, biting my lip, I scrolled through the numbers in my phone until I got to my newest entry, written in simply as "T". I took a quick peek behind me to make sure Dona wasn't listening, and with that, I pushed the green call button. It was an hour ago that I'd heard Tidus' voice, but it wouldn't be long before I heard it again.

I was willing to throw everything away for that interview, after all.


	7. The Cafe

I honestly can't believe I'm already on Chapter 7! It's crazy! Anyway, this was one of those completely unplanned chapters that wasn't in my outline, so I guess in a way it's a filler, but not really. I don't think any chapters in this story are really "fillers" which is a good thing, right?

Anyway though, it's faaaar past my bedtime (tennis teaching at 9 tomorrow! Ah!) but I _had _to get this written for y'all, right? So do please enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 7: The Café**

With every ring, my heart began to beat faster. It seemed as if I sat there for hours, listening to the ringing in my ear. I was beginning to fear that he would never answer, and that some sort of answering service would never answer either.

Finally though, the ringing stopped, and I heard his voice. He sounded somewhat tired, and perhaps a little groggy as he said, "Hello?"

"H-Hi," I said quickly. "Um, Tidus? This is Yuna."

"Oh, hey!" he said.

"I didn't wake you, did I?" I questioned softly.

"No, I'm actually just working on a play," he said.

"A play?" Like a drama?

"Yeah, you know, a blitz play," he said.

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense," I said, laughing at my own stupidity.

He laughed too, and he said, "What, did you think I was writing a stage play or something?"

"Well, I…"

"Nope, I'm not a writer," Tidus just said as I trailed, his laughter still clear in his voice. "But I wasn't expecting you to call so soon. You seemed a little unsure."

"Um, I'm not used to random kisses," I admitted. "I guess I was a little shocked."

"Heh, you and I both," Tidus said, and I couldn't help but wonder if he was smiling. From the tone of his voice, I couldn't help but imagine a smile on his lips.

I smiled and said, "Well, I guess you have my number now."

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"So now you can call me," I said, unsure of what else to say.

"Yeah, I guess I can."

"So maybe I'll be hearing from you then?" I asked him, unsure if I was right or wrong in what I was doing.

"Yeah, maybe you will," Tidus said.

"Okay, I'll be waiting then," I said, as I felt my lip curling under my teeth once again.

"Okay," Tidus said.

"So in the meantime, have fun working on your play."

"I will," Tidus said.

"Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up then, unsure if that had gone over smoothly or not. I decided that I had to stop all "unplanned activities," rather it was a kiss or a phone call.

I peeked in the door again, and saw that Dona was in her bed, and appeared fast asleep.

Sighing, I put my hand on the door, ready to go to bed. I was just about to slide open the door, when I felt my phone vibrate in my hand. Shocked, I looked down at it, only to feel my heart begin to pound again. Flashing on the screen of my phone was "T".

I flipped it open quickly, and let out a rather choppy "Hi!"

"Hey," I heard his voice on the other line. "So I thought I'd maybe call you."

I smiled and said, "Oh."

"And then the maybe turned into a definitely, so here I am, calling you!"

I couldn't help but smile wider.

"Well, I appreciate it," I said. "So are you still working on the play?"

"Yeah. But I'm thinking about giving up on it. It's not like I really need to make it, anyway, since it's the off-season."

"So then what?" I asked. "You're going to sleep?"

"Yeah right," Tidus said, laughing. "I was thinking more like a late night café stop. You up?"

"Café?" I said. I glanced at the time. It was going on midnight. "It's almost midnight."

"Well, what's near you?"

"Near me?" I felt my smile fade. He was pushy. I spun around though, and looked off of the balcony. A secret late night café trip with Tidus. How could I turn it down? "I'm in the center district by the mall. Do you know that area?"

"Yeah, of course," Tidus said. "There's a place right outside of the mall. It's called Blitz. Have you heard of it?"

"That's a café?" I questioned, for I did indeed know exactly what place he was talking about. "I always thought it was a sports bar."

"It's a café," Tidus said. "A ton of people think it's a bar because they don't think blitzball players are sophisticated enough for cafés."

I simply smiled. "So you want to go there?"

"If you do."

"Sure," I said.

"Okay, meet me there in like fifteen minutes?"

"Sounds good," I said.

"Okay, see you soon."

"Yeah, okay."

I waited for him to hang up, and then I hung up as well. Then, I snuck back into the hotel, grabbed a change of clothes, and quickly ducked into the bathroom.

-

It was a café. And it was open, despite the fact that it was fifteen minutes past midnight. I had hurriedly thrown on a t-shirt and jeans, put makeup back onto my face and straightened out my hair, and now I was standing in a rather cute café, and there wasn't really anything blitzball-ish about it.

I stood in the entryway, unsure of what to do. There was no one in the entire building, but there was another section that I couldn't see into. I figured Tidus hadn't arrived yet, so I made my way to the counter, and ordered a smoothie.

The smoothie was ready before I knew it, being that the place didn't really have any business, and Tidus still hadn't arrived. I decided to look into the second section, and it was a good thing I did, for there sat Tidus.

I stopped in the doorway and watched him, my smoothie cold in my hand. He was hunched over a piece of paper, his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth, showing off his intense concentration. With a smile growing on my lips, I started toward the table.

He didn't look up at me until I took the seat across from him, sitting my smoothie down across from what appeared to be his coffee.

"Hey," he said, greeting me with a smile.

"Hi," I said back to him. "What are you working on?"

"The play," he said, looking at the piece of paper that had lines and x's on it that I didn't understand. He narrowed his eyes at me, and he said, "You're not a secret spy from another team are you?"

I laughed, and said, "I assure you, I know nothing about blitzball. That looks more like a math equation to me."

It was Tidus' turn to laugh, and he looked at his work and cocked his head to the side, and said, "Hey, it does kind of look like a math equation. Thanks, Yuna, now it's giving me a headache."

I smiled at his comment, and then directed my attention to his coffee. "Aren't you supposed to drink coffee in the morning, not late at night?" I questioned.

He looked at the clear glass mug and said, "Nah. I'm going to have to stay up for at least three more hours."

"Working on the play?" I asked.

"Well, no," he said, his blue eyes meeting mine. I felt my face slowly fall. His eyes were beautiful. If I believed that it was true that eyes were the windows to the soul, then Tidus would positively have the most beautiful soul in Spira.

"U-Um, why will you be up that late?" I managed then, and I blinked and looked away from him. How embarrassing to be caught staring at him!

A thoughtful look came across his face, and he said, "I have to pick a friend up from a party. He'll be too wasted to drive."

"Kiryl?" I decided to take a shot.

"No," Tidus said, a slight smile on his lips. "Toma. He's my line-mate."

"Oh," I said. "Do you only hang out with teammates?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Tidus said, turning his attention back to the play that he was working on.

"How come you're not at the party?" I asked, shocked that I was wasting precious questioning time on such foolish questions. The problem was, I couldn't help myself: I really wanted to know his answers.

"I didn't feel like it," Tidus said, his answer short. I bit my lip. That answer wasn't good enough for me.

"Why didn't you feel like it?" I began to worry that he would find my constant questions annoying.

"I don't know," Tidus said. "I'm not one for parties."

"Seriously?" I questioned. I felt my cheeks redden at my word, for it showed that I doubted his words, something I had learned in my first days of a journalism major not to do.

Tidus glanced up at me, his blue eyes meeting mine once again. He allowed his pen to drop from his hand, making a _cling_ on the table. I worried that he was growing angry with me.

Instead, a very slight smile began to pry on the corners of his mouth, his eyes light and gentle.

"That's the stereotype, isn't it?" he asked, almost thoughtfully. "That blitzball players do nothing but party all the time. That we're like some sort of uncivilized beasts, right? And that Zanarkand players are the worst, because we're from the sinful city of Yu-Yevon or some nonsense like that, right?"

"Well…"

"From a Bevelle standpoint, that must be it, right?" Tidus asked. "I'm sure your father has probably constantly told you not to get mixed up with anybody from Zanarkand, right? Especially those dirty blitzball players."

"Well…"

Tidus just laughed before I could say anything more, and said, "They're stereotypes, Yuna. Brought upon blitzball players by guys like my old man."

His words confused me. Was he saying that his father was the one who caused stereotypes like that to exist?

"Surely you've heard of Jecht, right?" Tidus continued, not waiting for a response from me. "That old bastard was the one who started all of that nonsense, and then guys like Kiryl don't help it. But remember, he's from Luca."

"I'm sorry," I said, unsure of what else to say.

"It's alright," Tidus said, his tone genuinely light-hearted. "Sorry if I kind of went off there. I just get so ticked at guys who give blitzball a bad name. But I mean, it's true: we do party a lot. We like our booze. But only to an extent. Well, most of us, anyway. Not me though."

"Really?" I asked, and I mentally yelled at myself again. There I went again, making it seem as if I doubted him.

"Alcoholism runs in the family," Tidus just said, his eyes still on the paper that was in front of him, his pen back in his hand. "I don't want it to ruin my career or anything."

"That's really…" I started, but I couldn't think of the word.

"Really what?" Tidus questioned, his eyes back on me.

"Respectable," I finished for him, giving him a smile.

"Yeah, some think so," Tidus just said, as he made a few more x's and squiggles that I didn't understand.

"Do the guys give you a hard time?" I asked.

"No. But you know, when we win the cup next year, we're expected to drink champagne out of it."

"Are you really that afraid of alcoholism?" I questioned. I couldn't imagine someone being so frightened of addiction that they wouldn't even have a sip of champagne!

Tidus' eyes were on mine again, although this time they didn't appear so gentle. He looked at me for a long time, before letting out a soft sigh and turning back to his work.

"No," he admitted. "I don't care. I don't think about it that much. I just don't want you getting any wrong ideas about me."

I wanted to ask him why he would care if I got a wrong idea or not. But I didn't. I kept my mouth clamped shut, and lifted my smoothie, and began to drink it thoughtfully, as I watched him at work on his play.

A few minutes passed, and Tidus finally laughed out loud, and folded up the piece of paper.

"I'm sorry," he said, as he tucked the paper into the pocket of his jeans. "I shouldn't be working on this right now. It's just that I have this really awesome idea that I want to get written out. You know, before I forget it or something."

"I understand," I said. "So you do all the plays for the team?"

"No, not all the plays," Tidus said. "Sometimes I can't help but think of them though. Like I'll think, 'okay, if I played right-wing instead of left-wing, but swung over and switched places with Toma, I'd be in the perfect position to score. But then I have to figure out where 

Toma would go, and where Naya—our center—would go. And then there's the defense to worry about and…" Tidus stopped and looked up at me, and gave me a sheepish smile. "Does any of that make sense to you?"

"Not really," I admitted.

"Okay, we'll stop talking about blitzball then," Tidus said, shaking his head with an amused smile on his face. "So… tonight was a little weird, huh?"

"Y-Yeah," I said slowly, and I had to turn away from his gaze.

Tidus looked past me though, his eyes almost glazy in thought, and his fingers drummed on the table. Finally, he licked his lips, and cocked his head so that he was looking at me.

"So do you go to school somewhere?"

"Yeah, I go to school in Bevelle," I answered.

"What year are you?"

"I'm going to be a junior."

"Okay, so you're about my age."

"Yeah," I answered.

"What's your major?" he asked. I felt my heart begin to speed. I couldn't tell him the truth!

"English," I said, hoping he didn't notice my hesitation.

"Okay, so like writing and stuff?"

"Yeah," I answered quickly.

"Cool," he just said, nodding, his eyes still looking at me, gazing deeply at me, almost as if he was searching for something. I gulped. If any eyes could see right through me, those two could.

"I wasn't much of a school person," he said, looking down at his coffee. "I guess it's a good thing I didn't have to further my education, or whatever."

"School always came easy for me," I found myself admitting.

"Yeah, I never understood any of it," Tidus just said, pursing his lips out as he shook his head.

"That surprises me," I said, and I had to look at the table, since I knew I couldn't meet his eyes as I told him this. "You seem very smart to me." As soon as I said those words, I immediately felt his eyes on me. It took me a few seconds, but I found the courage to look up, only to meet his shocked gaze.

"You really think I come off like someone who's smart?"

"Yeah," I said. "That blitzball play stuff is way over my head. And you seem so responsible and helpful and…"

Tidus laughed and said, "Yuna, let me tell you something. When I'm with my teammates, I'm not like this. I'm not like this around anybody. But for some reason, I feel comfortable with you. It feels okay to be like this. To be "smart" and stuff. That's why I kissed you earlier."

I couldn't help but blink a few times. Tidus was comfortable around _me_? Just like that? For no reason? I wasn't the one who saved him from a drunk teammate! I wasn't the one who was the star blitzball player! I was just some girl. Just some girl from Bevelle."

Almost as if he read my mind, he said, "I met your friend today. I always thought people from Bevelle were the same. But she wasn't anything like you."

"M-My friend," I said, remembering that he'd met her on the cruise. "Well, she's… she's not really my friend. Not now, anyway."

"She was giggly and flirty and annoying," Tidus said. His eyes met mine again. "Just like the girls here in Zanarkand."

Tidus took a deep breath, and he said, "I've never met any girls before who weren't giggly and flirty and annoying. Well, until I met you."

"Really? Ever?" I questioned. There I went again, instilling that I doubted him. Why was I forgetting every journalism lesson I ever learned? I felt my mouth drop, and I hoped he didn't notice. I wasn't thinking in terms of journalism. I wasn't thinking about the interview at all. Instead, I was having a normal conversation with Tidus.

"Never," Tidus said. "They're always the same. They get boring after a while. And so, I couldn't… I mean, I hate to sound like a jerk or anything, but I couldn't help myself when I saw you on the cruise. I hope you don't think I'm a total jerk or anything."

"For kissing me?" I asked, a smile growing on my lips. "No, I was… I mean, I was surprised, but I didn't think lowly of you at all. I-In fact, I thought quite the opposite of you."

He smiled at my remark, and he said, "I'm glad you agreed to meet me here."

"Me too," I agreed immediately, and I didn't even bother hiding the shine in my eyes.

He smiled and said, "Well, how about a more proper kiss?"

"Right here?" I questioned, looking behind me. We were completely alone.

"Why not?" Tidus simply said. With that, he leaned over the small table, and I felt myself leaning forward too. Our lips met for another sweet kiss, exactly as they had earlier. Only this time, I felt my eyes shoot open, and I pulled back.

Tidus' eyes opened as well, and he gave me a confused look. I simply sat back in my chair, and I said, "I'm sorry Tidus… I… I have to go."

"Go?" Tidus said, his confused look deepening as I grabbed my bag. "O-Okay."

"It's just that…" I didn't know what to say. I couldn't tell him that I was supposed to be calling my boyfriend, not kissing another guy. I couldn't. I couldn't tell Tidus the truth. So, I lied.

"It's just that my friend—you know, the girl you met earlier?—really likes you. A lot." Where I was coming up with this lie, I had no idea. But I continued. "I mean, she just likes you because of who you are and stuff, which is totally unfair, right? But I… I feel kind of guilty, since she's the reason I'm even in Zanarkand. I owe her a lot. So I… I just feel really guilty about this, since it feels like I'm stealing her guy or something." Great, I was rambling. I was rambling a lie that I was literally pulling out of my butt.

Tidus was eating it up though.

"Well, we can just… meet in secrecy?" he tried.

"Sure," I said, agreeing far too easily. "I mean, I want to."

"Okay, so like tomorrow? Does that work?"

"Tomorrow?" I questioned, and I tried to think of my intern schedule. "Sure. Text me, okay?"

"Text? Sure. See you soon Yuna."

"Bye Tidus."

I felt his eyes on me as I left, but I couldn't turn back. What I was doing was wrong. But, I couldn't help but feel as if my lie could work to help me. Now Tidus would never question me if I did anything to show my guilt. He'd just think it was because of Dona.

As I walked back into the sea-filled Zanarkand air, I couldn't help but smile. Perhaps it would work out perfectly.

And besides, my stomach was churning and my heart was beating madly, but for the first time in far too long, I felt _happy_. I felt as if I was dancing, when in reality, I was just walking. Heck, I felt as if I was swimming or maybe even doing summersaults. Who knew. All I knew was that I felt _good_. I felt invincible.

I convinced myself happily that these feelings were because of my success in befriending Tidus. However, down in the pit of my stomach, I did feel some worry: what if the happiness wasn't because of the interview, but rather because Tidus was making me—could I even say it?—feel something else. I pushed the fear down though, and held my head high. I was going to get that interview.

And even better, I was going to see Tidus tomorrow. My eyes closed and a dreamy smile lit my face. I couldn't wait.


	8. The Night

OMG, I am so sorry for the late update! I meant to update on Wednesday, but... yeah, it didn't happen. I left for a mini vacation on Thursday morning, and never got the chance to write, until finally, yesterday, in the car, on my way home. So yeah, here it is!

The real reason I didn't get around to updating sooner though, is because I really want to "novelize" _Combined Yards_. I don't know if that's really "legal" since I "published" it on here, but I don't care. I want to turn it into a novel and try to have it really published. So I've been reading through it for at least the tenth time, editing it and stuff. You know, doing things like making Tidus a hockey player instead of a blitzball player. And, since I'm simply in love with _Combined Yards _like you wouldn't believe, I start reading it and just can't stop. Maybe I'm lame, but I think it's really funny.

Oh, and I got like two PMs while I was away, so just to anybody who PMed me or who is thinking about PMing me, I always try to write back. So expect a response soon.

...ANYWAY, without further ado, here is the very much belated chapter 8. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 8: The Night**

I wanted to tell someone about Tidus. Who wouldn't want to tell the world that they had kissed a star blitzball player _twice_. The sad truth, though, was the fact that there wasn't a soul who I could share this information with. Not when I was supposed to be gathering an interview. And especially not when I had a boyfriend.

I remembered to call Baralai the very next day after kissing Tidus. I figured it was because the guilt was getting to me. He was busy though, which was actually quite a relief. We talked briefly, and he shared information about his internship, and reminded me that he would be visiting in a week. I decided that a visit from him would probably do me some good. Maybe it would put things into perspective and stop my heart, which hadn't stopped beating happily since the first time I'd felt Tidus' lips on mine.

Dona didn't know that I snuck out that night. And she didn't find out the second night I snuck out either.

Tidus and I met at the same little café, around midnight again. I was sacrificing my sleep to meet him, since I had to be at _The Mode _at seven in the morning, but it didn't matter. I was quickly getting used to the pattern. Luckily for me, Dona was having quite a difficult time, so she always went to bed early.

He was sitting in the same place when I walked in, and he had another clear glass mug filled with coffee. There was no piece of paper in front of him though, and instead, he was looking at his cell phone.

His eyes looked up as soon as I took a seat though.

"Hey!" he said, laying his phone down on the table. "How's it going."

"Good," I replied, a smile on my lips. "How are you?"

"Pretty good," he said, glancing back at his phone. "The guys are all going to a party though and they want me to go."

"O-Oh, go ahead," I said, although I felt my stomach fall.

"Well I was wondering if you'd like to go with me," Tidus said, smiling at me hopefully.

My spirits lifted, but only momentarily. Going to a party with Tidus was a little dangerous. Anyone from _The Mode_, or even Rikku, could be there. I bit my lip nervously. The idea of Rikku knowing that I was getting a little close to Tidus was rather unbearable. At least if anybody from _The Mode_ was there though, I could hope that they would understand that I was with Tidus for interviewing purposes. My fear, though, was that they would ruin what I had going with Tidus before I could get to that interview stage.

Tidus watched me as I tried to decide what to do, his expression unreadable, as always. His eyes stared at me, blinking every now and then, as if he was trying to read my mind. I'm not going to lie: often, I worried that he could read it, and I tried to force it to shut down.

He must have bored of trying to figure out what I was thinking though, for he shuffled in his seat, looked at his phone, and said, "Well, if you don't want to go…"

"No, I want to go," I answered quickly. "It's just that I'm afraid my friend is going to be there."

"Your friend?" Tidus questioned. "The one from Bevelle?"

"No, another friend," I answered, softly. I began to wonder if I should just tell him about Rikku. I glanced up, only to meet his questioning gaze, and I swallowed, and shifted my eyes back to the table. "Her name's Rikku," I finally muttered.

"Rikku," Tidus said slowly, and he nodded slowly as well at the name. "Yeah, I know her."

I licked my lips and looked back up at him. He was looking at the table this time.

"Yeah, she's actually my cousin," I said slowly. "I've never been super close to her or anything, but, you know, she…"

"Things are a little weird between us," Tidus said quickly, almost cutting me off, despite the fact that I had nothing else to say. "And yeah, she might be at that party."

"I'll feel bad if she sees me with you," I continued, still slowly. It felt strange to talk to Tidus about someone we both knew, someone we both seemed to want to avoid.

Tidus looked at me again, as if he was trying to read my mind, to gather what kind of knowledge I knew about him, before he said, "So did Rikku tell you about us?"

It was my turn to look at Tidus as if to try to discover what he knew, before I said, "Um… well, she told me that she kind of liked you and that things got kind of awkward."

Tidus let out a soft chuckle, and the smile remained on his lips. "Yeah, that's the shortened version of the story."

"Shortened version?" I questioned, leaning forward in my chair despite myself. "There's more to it?" Now _this _was the journalism in me. I wanted the rest of the story, if there was more to the story. In fact, I wanted more to the story even if there wasn't more to it.

"You know, it wasn't anything major," Tidus just said. "She liked me, she let me know it, end of story. I broke her heart and she cried to my teammates, and made me feel guilty. That was all there was to it."

"Oh," I said, not sure if I should be disappointed or not. I looked back up at him. He had leaned back in his chair and his arms were crossed across his chest, a slight frown on his face. "Um, Rikku said you could get under her skin, and she…"

To this, Tidus laughed, cutting me off. "I want to make sure I can trust someone, Yuna," he said, his eyes intent on mine. "And if I have to get under someone's skin to figure that out, I will."

His words sent a slight chill through my body. I _wasn't _necessarily trustworthy. Would Tidus discover that?

Tidus laughed again then, and said, "Don't worry about it Yuna. Come on, you want to go to that party?"

It was my turn to laugh. "You still want to go?" I asked.

"Yeah, Rikku's not a worry. Honestly."

"But, she is my cousin…"

"But you've never been super close to her or anything," Tidus said, copying my exact words as he stood up. I sat there, feeling dumbfounded. How had he managed to do that? Did he store my words in his brain or something, retaining them, waiting for the proper time to use them? It was something I often did, as a reporter, to use later in the writing part. I was beginning to suspect Tidus was a secret journalist or something.

"If you want to go, I'll go," I finally said, almost in defeat.

"Any visitor has to see the Zanarkand nightlife," Tidus said, a smile lighting his face. "Besides, this is one of my teammate's party, so it should be pretty dead, you know, if you're worried about people seeing you and stuff."

I looked at him, and gave him a questioning look. I wondered if he suspected me of anything. He simply looked back at me, his eyes surprisingly blank, he expression serene.

"Well, let's go," I finally just said. "How far away is it?"

"About fifteen minutes," he said. "Don't worry, we'll take my car."

"Your car?"

"Yeah," he said, standing up. He grabbed his phone and stuffed it in his pocket, and took his empty mug to the spot for it on top of the garbage can, and then started off toward the door. I sighed and threw my smoothie in the garbage, and followed him.

The night was surprisingly humid, which gave it an even hazier appeal than normal. Even so, as the lights blended in with the stars, it was a sight to see.

Tidus led me down an alley, and I found myself walking close to him, Baralai's worried about crime fresh in my mind. There was no one around though, and the city that never slept seemed rather dead to me.

We finally arrived at a small parking lot that only had one car in it. The car was a sleek black sports car, surprisingly simple. Tidus pulled out his keys and hit the unlock button, which sent two small beeps out of the car.

He climbed in then, and I walked around and hesitantly climbed in the passenger side. It was then that I realized what I was doing was potentially dangerous. Climbing in a car with a guy who I barely knew could never be a good idea. I sucked in a breath quickly, and reminded myself that of the two of us, I was the one that couldn't be trusted. Not Tidus. I glanced over at him just in time to see him peek into his rearview mirror to brush a misplaced hair back into place.

"What?" he said then, as he saw that I was looking at him.

"Nothing," I said, shaking my head and focusing my attention outside the window. I reached for my seatbelt then, only to find there was none.

Tidus laughed and said, "In Zanarkand, we like to live on the edge. Even if that means not wearing a seatbelt."

"That's ridiculous!" I cried, just as he started off, burning his tires on the pavement.

"Yeah, it is," he said. "And we like to drive fast."

My eyes widened, and he simply laughed. "Don't worry, I'll take it easy," he said, still laughing.

"No, go as fast as you want," I said, giving him a challenging look. "I want to see what life is like for a real Zanarkand native, after all."

Tidus simply smiled and said, "Well, we would, but I have a few speeding tickets I haven't paid for yet, so it probably wouldn't be the best thing for me to get pulled over."

I simply smiled at him, but said nothing. Again, I focused my attention outside.

"So how late can you be out?" Tidus asked. "In Bevelle, girls have curfews, don't they?"

I laughed. "Let me guess, they don't here."

"Nope. I could be out with a girl all night long, and all her dad would say to me is "I hope you used a condom."'

I gave him a shocked glance without meaning to, and he just laughed. "Yevon, _my dad _would hang you."

Tidus laughed and said, "In that case, I'm hoping your dad isn't here."

"He's not," I answered quickly. I felt my heart begin to speed and I looked at him again, my shocked expression again on my face. "Are we going to be out all night?"

Tidus looked back at me, and he said, "Well parties tend to go late. And then afterwards, if you want, we can go see the sunrise."

"The sunrise," I said slowly. "What time is that at?"

"Five-ish," Tidus said.

My heart sank. I had to be at _The Mode_ at seven. How could I do that after being out all night long?

"That sounds great," I answered though. Forget sleep. I could catch up on that later. As for the idea of being out with a boy all night… I decided to forget about that too. I'd already lied multiple times. I swallowed. I was damned as it was.

We pulled up to a house then, and I exited rather cautiously. I almost wanted to call Rikku to see where she was, just so I could be sure she wasn't at this party. But I couldn't.

Tidus led the way into the house, and I felt my stomach drop. There were _a lot _of people. I decided that could work for me though. The more people there were, the less of a chance Rikku had to see me.

"Wait right here for a sec," Tidus said, and he went to a guy. The guy laughed and gave Tidus a pat on the back, and pointed off toward another room. Tidus nodded, laughed, and then started back toward me.

"Come with me," Tidus said, as he reached me. "I'll introduce you to my teammates." He took my hand then and led me through the crowds, not even bothering to say excuse me. He didn't need to. The crowds literally moved for us.

We came across a guy who was talking to a short, cute blonde girl, and Tidus turned back and smiled at me, and said, "That's my best friend. His name's Shaft, and he's our goalie." I craned my neck past Tidus to get a better look at him. He was a tall guy, with dark hair and nice features. "We've been best friends forever," Tidus said.

He dropped my hand then and started toward him, bursting between him and the girl.

"Hey man!" the goalie said, hitting his knuckle against Tidus'. "Where've you been?"

Tidus looked at me, and took my arm and brought me closer to him, and said, "This is Yuna. I was with her."

Shaft looked at me, and I realized that he had dark, piercing eyes that could also seemingly go into my soul. I forced a smile, hoping I didn't come off as alarmed.

"Nice to meet you," he said, loudly over the music. "My name's Shaft."

"Nice to meet you too," I said.

"She's from Bevelle," Tidus continued. I simply smiled.

"Bevelle? What are you doing here?" Shaft questioned. He laughed then, and said, "And with Tidus of all people?"

"I met her a few parties ago," Tidus said. "Kiryl was being a jerk to her."

Shaft rolled his eyes and said, "The team needs to trade him or something."

"Yeah, definitely," Tidus was quick to respond. The girl that Shaft was talking to disappeared, I noticed, and I figured she wasn't anyone too important.

"So you like it here?" Shaft asked me.

"Yeah, I do," I said quickly. "I like it a lot, actually."

"Are you going to school there or something?" Shaft asked.

"Yeah."

"What's your major?"

"English."

"Oh, like writing and stuff?"

I smiled. Wasn't that pretty much what Tidus had said.

"Anyway, I'm gonna introduce her to the rest of the team," Tidus said. "See you later."

"Nice meeting you," Shaft called after me.

"Nice meeting you too!" I said, although Tidus was already pulling me away.

"Oh, there are some of my line-mates!" Tidus said then, nodding toward a group of three guys who were sitting at the bar. We started toward them, and Tidus dropped my hand, and walked even quicker toward them.

I followed, only to stop as I suddenly felt a tug on my arm.

"Yunie!" I heard, and I felt my stomach drop before I could even see her. Rikku spun me around though, and I was shocked to meet what appeared to be angry green eyes. Her arms folded across her chest, and she said, "What are you doing?"

I simply stole a glance behind me, but noticed that Tidus was too busy talking with his friends to notice that I was amiss.

"I'm just—."

"Getting introduced to Tidus' teammates," Rikku said, looking angry. "Do you mind if I ask you why?"

"Why what?" I questioned.

"Yunie, _everybody _knows that when a blitzball player introduces you to his teammates, that it means he wants things to get serious between him and you."

"What?" I questioned, a smile forming on my lips. "Rikku, we're just—."

"Yunie, Tidus wouldn't just introduce a "friend" to his teammates," Rikku said, cutting me off. "What have you been doing?"

"What have I been doing? I'm just hanging out with him and stuff."

Rikku shook her head at me, and said, "Have you told him about the interview."

"No," I said, stealing a glance back at Tidus to make sure he wasn't around. "You said it yourself that he wouldn't want to do an interview."

"So what, you're sleeping with him to get the interview?"

"What?" I cried, my voice coming out loud. I had to peek behind me again to make sure Tidus was still talking to his friends, which, luckily, he was. "Rikku, I swear I have barely touched Tidus."

"Barely touched Tidus," Rikku said slowly copying my words. "You've kissed him though. Admit it."

"I have," I admitted, and a feeling of sheepishness crossed over me. "Twice."

"Just twice?"

"Yeah."

"Well he must be smitten then," Rikku said, her eyes still angry. "Here he comes now."

"Please don't say anything," I pleaded quickly.

Rikku didn't answer. She simply looked at me, her arms still crossed, and her eyes glaring.

"Hey," Tidus' voice was heard behind me. "I want you to—." He stopped as soon as he saw Rikku.

"Oh, hey Rikku," he said, his voice coming out smooth. Although he was standing behind me, I could feel his eyes go to their usual state of trying to figure everything out. I could just tell.

"Hello Tidus," Rikku said, her arms still crossed angrily across her chest. "How are you?"

"Pretty good," Tidus said slowly. "I haven't seen you in quite some time."

"Well, when a guy's as clueless as you, it's typical that a girl like me wouldn't want to have a run-in with you."

I decided I didn't want to see Tidus' expression to that.

"Clueless of what exactly, Rikku?" Tidus questioned.

I let out a sigh. Why was I in the middle? Literally and figuratively?

Rikku just smiled and shook her head.

"Everything Tidus," she said, shaking her head. "Anyway, you two have a fun night. Have fun meeting Tidus' teammates, Yunie." With that, she rolled her eyes and marched away, her arms still crossed.

"She sure can hold a grudge," Tidus said, shaking his head. "Anyway, come on, I want you to meet these guys."

I glanced over at him, giving him a somewhat worried look.

"What's wrong?" he asked me, seeing the look. "Did Rikku say something to you?"

"Well, she…" I paused. I decided that so far the lying thing wasn't working for me that night, and I said, "She thinks you're showing me off to your teammates because I slept with you."

Tidus gave me a confused look, before he smiled and shook his head.

"It would be like her to get the wrong idea," he said. "Just ignore her. Come on, let's meet the guys."

Tidus introduced me to the guys at the bar then, and five others throughout the night. I shook their hands and smiled as they talked, but I couldn't really listen. I didn't want Rikku mad at me, but it was becoming more and more apparent throughout the night that I couldn't be with Tidus and not have her mad at me. I wanted to ask her to tell me exactly what happened between Tidus and her, but I was beginning to feel like she wouldn't tell me. I also had a feeling that Tidus wouldn't tell me either. Not only that, but I was beginning to realize that I was growing far too trusting in Tidus. Perhaps it was because I figured there had to be a balance to even out my untrustworthiness, but I was growing worried that balances like that didn't exist in real life.

At one point, I even wished that Dona was with me. If I had her ideas on how to get the interview alongside my own, then maybe it would work out. I was, after all, surrounded by the blitzball team, and yet unable to do anything to help out with my internship.

The night was also growing late, very fast. Tidus' idea of partying was about the same as mine: talk, don't drink, don't dance, just talk. It made me feel safer with him, and more sure of myself. He talked to his teammates and other people, and listened intently to their stories, his face always serene, always ready to learn something new. His laughter was sincere, his words thoughtful. I spent my time observing him, my mind only on him.

His teammates looked at me strangely, as if they couldn't figure me out. Every time they gave me a confused glance, though, I noticed that a small smile would form on Tidus' mouth, as if he was proud of the gazes I was getting.

Finally, just as I noticed that it was four o'clock in the morning, Tidus took me aside, and said, "Well, ready to go?"

"Sure," I said, eager to see if his words about the sunrise were true.

"Okay, let's go," he said. He took my hand in his—something that had become rather common throughout the night, and something I did readily and without thought—and off we went, toward his car.

"The guys can't figure you out," he said, confirming my earlier thoughts. "You're not like most girls. Well, Zanarkand girls, anyway."

"Is that a compliment?" I asked slowly.

"Definitely," Tidus said, looking at me with a shocked expression. "Sorry, I guess I should have made that clearer."

I just smiled and said, "No, it's alright. I was hoping it was."

"They want me to hook them up with your friend," he said then, and he glanced at me quickly. "But I told them that even though she's from Bevelle too, I didn't think your friend was quite like you."

"No, she's not," I said, and that was the truth. Either that, or it was just me trying to keep my friend away from them, away from the interview.

"So therefore not all the girls in Bevelle are like you," he said.

"Tidus," I said, looking at him, "I'm not sure what you mean. Like what? What am I like that's so special?"

"You're just… you," he said, and he looked confused as to how to word his thoughts. "You're not after anything, you just…" He trailed then, and let out a sigh. "You just hang out. Like a friend."

I looked at him, and it was my turn to look shocked. I wanted him to spell out what he meant exactly, to describe it as best as he could. But I knew he wouldn't. So I didn't press any further.

In the pit of my stomach though, I knew what he meant. I wasn't after what the usual girls were probably after: I didn't want popularity, I didn't want to jump him just to say I had. But I did want something. I wanted that interview.

"Tidus, I—," I started quickly, but I didn't get the chance to say anything. We had pulled up to a beach, and Tidus leaned over and kissed me, cutting me off. Rikku's words about Tidus being smitten with me suddenly came back, and I found myself pulling away from him quickly, the second time I'd pulled away from a kiss.

He looked at me with a shocked expression on his face, but I couldn't say anything. I wanted to tell Tidus about the interview. I wanted to tell him so badly. By this point though, it was to clear my conscience. But by this point, I couldn't tell him. And the reason I couldn't tell him was simple: He would get mad, and he would leave me.

I felt my stomach churn. And the reason I was worried wasn't because I wouldn't be able to get the interview. It was because I wouldn't get to see him again. It was something I'd been denying over and over, but the truth was clear: I was the one that was becoming smitten with _him_. I had been since the first time I saw him.

The worst part was that it was becoming clearer and clearer by the second that I couldn't have him and the interview. I'd have to choose one. For the time being, I was choosing him. I swallowed. In the long run though, I knew what I'd have to choose. I'd have to choose the interview.

"Are you okay?" Tidus asked me, his voice interrupting my thoughts.

"I'm sorry," I said softly. "I'm just… having some… um… internal warfare."

"Ex-boyfriend memories or something?" Tidus questioned, but I couldn't ignore the suspicion that was shining in his eyes.

"No, it's more like… I don't understand what I'm doing," I managed. "My friend likes you a lot, and Rikku did like you a lot… so what am I doing?"

To this, Tidus just shook his head and smiled. "So what, you're not supposed to be with someone who your friends like or liked? Are those the rules or something?" He looked at me then, and smirk grew on his lips. "Well Yuna, sometimes the rules have to be broken."

I looked back at him, a smirk growing on my own lips. If only he knew how many rules I was breaking.

"You're right," I said, the familiar happy feeling return in the pit of my stomach. "And in this case, I'm willing to break the rules again."

And with that, we had our fourth kiss, and the first I hadn't pulled out of since our first.


	9. The Guilt

Wow. I am sooooo sorry for the wait on this you guys! It's horrible of me, isn't it?! Well, you know, the 4th of July just passed, and I have to celebrate two days worth, since it's not only America's birthday, but Gackt's (my most favorite Japanese singer ever!) birthday as well! So it's a full out celebration here at the Rikku-Hoshi residence.

Anyway though, honestly now, I'd say this is kind of the turning point of the story. Like, maybe the climax? It's kind of exciting, I think! So I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 9: The Guilt**

I was completely out of sorts when I arrived back at the hotel. Sunlight was just beginning to reach into the large windows, but Dona still hadn't stirred. She was lying, facing the door, a large puddle of drool on her pillow. I managed to quickly throw off my clothes and throw on my nightgown, and then I collapsed into my bed. It was almost five thirty, and I knew that Dona's alarm would be going off at any time.

I pulled the blankets around me and faced the incoming sunlight of the sunrise that I had just witnessed. I felt a small smile grow on my lips and I closed my eyes. I needed to try to get the one hour of sleep that I could get, but instead, I was reliving the night. _Especially _that brilliant sunrise.

There was no way I could put into words the beauty of the Zanarkand sunrise. The city was beyond majestic during the day, completely breathtaking during the night, and the sunrise was what merged the day and night together: it was majestically breathtaking. I felt my smile widen. It wasn't the sunrise that I was smiling at though. That was because of Tidus.

I had been battling with myself since I met him, but the truth was continually dawning on me. I was falling for Tidus. _Hard_. And while I didn't have proof necessarily, it was my suspicion that he was falling for me, too. Even Rikku had said it.

My stomach hurt. It hurt in places that I didn't know could hurt. But it was the best kind of hurt I had ever felt. A strange warmness spread out throughout my body, and my heart felt as if it was beating somewhere high up in my chest. I felt like running to the balcony and announcing to the Zanarkand morning that I was _in love _with Tidus.

The idea caused another smile to float onto my lips. In love. I was in love. I was completely in love. It didn't matter that I was only going to get an hour of sleep. It didn't matter that I hadn't called my boyfriend that night. And it didn't matter that I had to choose between Tidus and the interview. It didn't matter that I was going to have no friends by the time the summer was over. I was perfectly content.

With a small smile still on my lips, I drifted off into a surprisingly deep sleep.

-

"Yuna! Yuna!" I heard a voice hiss, bringing me back into the world. I sat up quickly, my eyes wide. Had I just fallen asleep at my desk? I looked over and saw Dona giving me a strange look.

"What's your deal?" she just asked. "You're lucky I didn't call Leblanc on you."

"I'm surprised you didn't," I muttered, as I turned back to the envelope stuffing that I was doing.

"Why are you falling asleep?" Dona asked. "You look like you only slept for like an hour or something."

I gave Dona a groggy look and wrapped my fingers around the coffee I had spent my lunch break getting. I hated coffee, really, but I couldn't help but smile as I drank it, for Tidus was always drinking coffee at the café, and I had even put the same ingredients in it as I'd seen him add: two sugars and two creams. He said it was a wimpy way to drink coffee, but he didn't care. And in this case, I didn't either. It tasted alright, after all.

"I didn't sleep very well last night," I said, giving Dona a little smile. I couldn't help but smile, really. It was almost as if it was glued to my face.

Dona gave me a suspicious look, and she said, "Why not?"

"I don't know," I said. "Well, time is running out really fast for us to get an interview with one of the blitzball players. I'm just nervous about it, that's all."

"Yeah well, it's an impossible task," Dona said. "So I've just been kissing Leblanc's butt. I propose—as your friend—that you do the same. I don't think she likes you much as of now."

I let out a sigh. "I wish we got to do other stuff than this busy work."

"We're supposed to be gathering an interview," Dona said quickly.

"Yeah, but what if they don't want to be interviewed?"

"It's our job as interviewers to get the interview out of them," Dona replied, somewhat harshly.

"Yes, but…" I trailed, and looked around me. "Usually I'm all for the idea. I mean, it's my _dream _to work here. But these days, I just don't know…"

"Even your cousin said that those guys need to get over themselves and interview," Dona said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah," I simply mumbled.

"You're not going soft are you, Yuna?" Dona asked. "Look, I know I've been a little bit of a brat lately, but it's because right now, I'm your competitor, not your friend. You understand, right? But that doesn't mean I don't want you to try. Yuna, this job means everything to us!"

"I know," I said, quickly, surprised that Dona had said something semi-nice. I smiled, as I realized that it was the first time in what felt like eons that Dona and I had talked.

I opened my mouth to say how happy I was to be talking to her, but Dona cut me off.

"Anyway, I'm having lunch with Barthello. Baralai's coming this weekend, right? I'll have to pencil in some time to visit with him."

"Pencil in some time? What are you doing?" I questioned.

"Yuna, someone has to work on this interview."

"Oh. What are you planning on doing?" At least I was naturally nosy.

"I'm going to just go from party-to-party. Hey, maybe your cousin Rikku can hook me up!"

"I thought using Rikku was cheating," I said.

"Oh please Yuna," Dona said, looking angry. "I know you're up to something. And I know that you're using Rikku to your advantage. Don't even try to deny it."

"Actually Rikku's not very happy with me," I said, looking at my desk.

"Yeah, like I believe that," Dona said. "I told Leblanc about how Rikku hooked us up at that party. She wants us to see what else Rikku can do for us."

"Rikku won't be helping me," I said clearly. "And she won't be helping you either. I told you, she's mad at me."

"What did you do?" Dona asked.

"I don't know," I lied. "I blew her off or something. I don't even remember."

"You're lying."

"I don't lie."

"Yeah you do," Dona just said. "Anyway, I'm off. Ta-ta."

"Bye."

-

"So there's this new movie opening, and I got us premier tickets, if you're interested," Tidus said, giving me a sweet little smile.

"Premier tickets? Sounds pretty cool," I said, smiling back at him. "When is it?"

"Saturday," he replied.

"Saturday…" I mumbled. "Um, Saturday doesn't work very well for me. Actually, this whole weekend doesn't. My friend and I have another friend coming, and we'll be pretty busy."

Tidus laughed. "Another Bevelle girl?"

I looked up at his smile, and felt my heart drop. I had meant to laugh as well and say "yeah", but nothing came out. Nothing at all. I just stared at him, with my mouth slightly agape.

His smile slowly faded, and his eyebrows went forward to show his confusion.

"Anyway," I said, swallowing loudly, "I won't be able to see you tomorrow, either." Tomorrow, as in Friday, the day Baralai would be arriving.

My phone started to ring then, which was surprising to me, since no one usually called me past ten at night, let alone at midnight. I looked, and noticed it was Dona calling.

Panic hit me hard. She must have woken up and realized I wasn't there.

"It's Dona," I said, not even bothering to hid the worry in my mouth. "What am I going to say?"

Tidus looked confused at first, but then he smiled and said, "Tell her Rikku needed you."

"O-Okay," I said, and with that, I answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Yuna! Where are you? It's ten past midnight and you are nowhere to be found!" Dona's voice screeched in my ear so loudly that I was sure Tidus could hear as well.

"Rikku needed me," I said slowly, repeating the lie that Tidus had just told me.

"I thought the two of you weren't getting along."

"We weren't, but we are now!" I said quickly, and I felt my pitch raising. Tidus leaned back in his chair across from me, his eyes watching me intently, his face serene and impossible to read.

"Well, you should get back soon," Dona said. "No wonder you were falling asleep at your desk today…"

"That's awfully caring of you," I said, rolling my eyes.

"You think far too lowly of me," Dona just said. "See you soon. Bye." I heard a click then, before I could say anything else, and I slowly lowered my phone.

I looked up at Tidus and opened my mouth to tell him that I had to go, but he beat me to it.

"Well, you're a pretty good liar," he said, his expression still hard to read.

His words took me aback though, and my eyes rushed to his and my heart began to pound. Did he know I wasn't being completely honest with him? Of course he did.

"Yeah, I guess I am, aren't I?" I just said slowly. "Anyway, I have to go. Sorry to leave so soon."

"So when can I see you again?" Tidus asked as I stood up and grabbed my purse.

"Um, after the weekend. I'll text you."

"Okay," Tidus said. "See you around then."

"Yeah, bye!" I said to him, and with that, I rushed out the door.

-

"You've been acting really weird." Those were Dona's first words as I walked into the room, and I chose to ignore her. Especially if that was all she was going to say.

My silence didn't satisfy her though, for she crossed her arms and said, "Baralai called."

"Your phone?" I questioned.

"Yeah, he couldn't get a hold of you," Dona said.

"What?" I questioned, and I pulled my phone out only to see that I had multiple missed calls from both Baralai and Dona. I looked at the ceiling in annoyance and let out a sigh. They must have tried to call when Tidus was showing me his car's new stereo system.

"And then I noticed you were gone," Dona said. "He was really worried about you."

"Sorry, I didn't want to wake you up," I just said, as if it was Dona that was worried about me.

"Whatever. You should probably call him."

"Yeah, okay," I said. We were both standing in the doorway, and I expected Dona to go back to bed, but instead, she stood there, as if waiting for me to call.

"Um, I'm going to get ready for bed first," I said, and with that, I went into the bathroom, and locked the door behind me. I walked up to the sink, and quickly brushed my teeth and washed my face.

As I dried my face off, I caught my reflection in the mirror. More and more, I was beginning to realize that I wasn't doing the right thing. I wasn't going to call Baralai. I would see him tomorrow, and in the meantime, I would think of a convincing lie to tell him.

I put my towel down and let out a sigh. What was I doing? What was I thinking? Why was it so much easier to lie to Baralai than to Tidus? True, all I'd been doing was lying to Tidus, but I couldn't anymore. I hadn't been able to lie to him at all.

I bit my lip. He knew. He had to know something. My eyes met their reflection again, and I had to lean forward. For some reason, it didn't seem to me as if I was looking into my own eyes. Who was I? Was I really that desperate for the interview?

I let out a very long sigh. It wasn't about the interview anymore. I suddenly remembered the conversation I'd had with Rikku about Tidus at the beginning of the summer, and how Rikku had warned me that Tidus had a way of getting under people's skin.

Closing my eyes, I turned around and put my weight against the sink. There wasn't a doubt that Tidus was the one controlling me, not the other way around. All this time, I'd thought I was in control, but I wasn't at all. He was inside of me, under my skin, and definitely getting to me. I wasn't even trying to interview him!

And he knew. What he knew, I didn't know. But I knew that he knew something, something that I didn't want him to know. Perhaps I felt more guilt knowing that he'd found me out, that he knew my secret. The problem was, which secret did he know?

When I left the bathroom, Dona was already fast asleep. I was glad, being that I definitely was not going to call Baralai. I laid my cell phone down on the night stand by my bed, put on my nightgown, and finally turned off all the lights and went to bed.

Falling asleep proved to be difficult, however. I laid on my back and just stared at the ceiling.

Nothing was how it was supposed to be. I was supposed to get that interview, beat Dona, and get my dream job at _The Mode_. It was almost too easy. It was literally in the palm of my hand.

I would go back to Bevelle to finish school, and I'd be with Baralai. Tidus would simply just be some guy I interviewed. My first official interviewee, nothing else.

But he was something else. He was the reason I was having the great time I was having. He was the reason my heart was beating happily and my stomach had butterflies in it in places that I didn't know existed. He was the reason I woke up with a smile on my face every morning. Not Baralai. And not _The Mode_.

I sat straight up in my bed. I had to tell Tidus the truth. Before Baralai came.

I quickly grabbed my phone and tip-toed to the balcony. I shut the door tightly behind me, and sat in the chair that was in the corner. A very warm breeze wrapped its way around me, bringing the smell of the sea along with it. I folded my lip under my front teeth, and found Tidus' number. I stared at his name, labeled simply "T" in my contacts, for quite some time, before I finally pushed the call button.

I heard the dial tone two times, before I heard Tidus answer.

"Hello?" he said, somewhat groggily.

"Um, hey," I said quickly. "It's me."

"Hi," he just said.

"Are you home?" I asked. "There's something I have to tell you."

"Are you okay?" he asked. "And yeah, I'm home. What's up?"

I tucked my phone between my shoulder and my ear, and said, "Is it okay if I come over?"

"Uh… sure?" Tidus said, sounding rather unsure of himself.

"I'll be there soon!" I said.

Tidus started to say something, but I cut him off. "Bye!"

With that, I clicked my phone shut, and hurried back into the room. I grabbed a pair of jeans and slipped them on under my nightgown, grabbed my handbag, and was out the door. All I had to do was wave down a taxi and hope that I remembered how to get to Tidus' place.

-

Tidus was standing in the doorway of his house, his arms crossed across his chest and a very confused expression on his face as the taxi pulled up. I quickly paid my fare and hopped out, mostly just glad that I had managed to find his place, despite the fact that I hadn't been there since that night that I'd first met Tidus.

I quickly walked up to him, my eyes wide and my mind blank. I had no idea how to even start, or where to start. On the way over, I decided I'd only tell him about Baralai. The interview part would have to wait. Thinking about it made my heart start to beat. I hadn't decided who or what I'd rather have: Tidus or the interview.

"Are you okay?" Tidus asked me as I walked up to him.

"Yeah," I said. "Look, I know it's weird for me to just come like this, and this late at night and everything, but there's something I have to tell you."

My eyes met Tidus' then, and silence fell over us, before Tidus said, "Um, let's go inside, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," I said. Tidus just gave me a small smile, and he opened the door and led the way inside.

I followed him into the living room, my eyes downcast. He seemed a little angry, I realized, and I figured it could have to do with the fact that it was almost two in the morning, and he had probably been sleeping. Not only that, but I assumed he knew that I wasn't there for the kind of reasons that he'd want me to be there for. He probably knew I was bringing bad news. 

Rikku had said he was clueless, but I was learning very quickly that he wasn't nearly as clueless as he had everybody thinking he was.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Tidus asked me, as he turned to face me.

"No thank you," I said slowly. "I'm sorry if I woke you up."

"It's okay," Tidus said. He gave me a small smile then, and said, "So… why are you here?"

"Um, well, I have a huge confession to make…" I said slowly.

He simply raised his eyebrows at me, a slight frown on his face.

I took a deep breath and said, "I haven't been totally truthful to you, but I don't think I've necessarily lied, but I… you see, tomorrow… tomorrow my boyfriend is coming from Bevelle."

Tidus' expression froze, and then he shook his head and said, "Yeah, I was guessing it was something like that."

"You knew?" I said. So he did.

"Not entirely, but yeah, I figured you had a boyfriend you weren't telling me about. Or you know, something similar to that."

I stood there, quite shocked. I mean, yeah, I assumed Tidus knew something, but he knew all along?

He laughed then, and said, "So what's the guy's name."

"You're okay with this?" I just said, too shocked to even think of Baralai's name.

"Actually no," Tidus said, his eyes suddenly cold on me. "What took you so long to tell me?"

"Tidus, the truth is that my boyfriend and I… we're like…" I found myself stumbling, and I hoped that now more than ever Tidus could see through me and tell that I was telling the truth. "We're really complicated. We're awkward," I continued. I let out a loud sigh and sank into Tidus' cushy leather couch.

Tidus let out a loud breath and took a seat next to me—not too close, of course.

"Baralai—that's his name—and I were supposed to spend the whole summer together. But I didn't want to. So I… I found a way out of it," I admitted. "I came here instead. And I guess I just forgot all about him."

"Spending the summer together, huh? You two must be pretty serious," Tidus said, and he looked straight ahead instead of looking at me.

"That's the problem," I said. "He thinks we're serious but we've barely kissed. I've—." I stopped and looked at Tidus, a shocked expression on my face. He looked back at me, his eyes showing a little confusion. I sighed and looked away from him and said, "I've probably kissed you as many times as I've kissed him."

"I see," Tidus said. "So what, four, five times?"

"Yeah, probably," I said. "But to Baralai, that's enough. He loves me and wants to marry me and… I think it's all just because of who my father is and stuff." I stopped then, and gave Tidus another shocked look. I let out a little laugh, and I said, "Wow, I'm sorry. You probably really don't care. But I have to admit, it feels so good to get all of this off of my chest."

To my surprise, Tidus laughed, and he said, "So let me get this straight: you have a boyfriend named Baralai. The two of you were supposed to spend the summer together, but you didn't want to. So instead of telling him, you ran away here and hooked up with me."

"You weren't… supposed to happen," I said slowly.

"So I wasn't just a rebound? Just someone you could use to get back at your boyfriend for something?" Tidus said, and although he sounded angry, I could see amusement in his eyes.

"No, nothing like that," I said. "In fact, I… I had to tell you." I laughed. "I don't feel guilty about cheating on Baralai. I feel more like I'm cheating on you. Not with you."

"Really, that's interesting," Tidus said slowly. He turned to me then, and I couldn't stop what happened next. Heck, I didn't _want _to stop what happened next.

We pulled away from each other then, and Tidus said, "So, are you going to break up with him?"

"It's not really that easy…" I said slowly. "But I… I'd like to."

"When does he come?" Tidus asked.

"Tomorrow sometime," I said. "I was supposed to call him, but I didn't."

"Well, wanna stay here tonight?" Tidus asked with a shrug.

I faced him in a flash, my eyes wide, and I said, "I'm sorry Tidus, but I'm not like that."

To this, Tidus laughed and he said, "N-No, we won't do anything. It's just that it's late, and you're here… in your pajamas…"

I felt my cheeks redden, and I said, "I can't Tidus. One thing could lead to the next, and—."

Tidus laughed again. "Yuna, I promise nothing will happen."

"Alright," I said. "But if you try anything funny, I have pepper spray in my purse."

"Oooh, not pepper spray!" Tidus just said, his smile wide.

I simply prodded him in the side with my elbow. He laughed and shifted so that his arm was around me. I felt myself blush. For the first time, I felt completely at ease. As if Tidus and I were a real couple, real boyfriend and girlfriend. I allowed Baralai to slip completely out of my mind, and even worse, I let _The Mode _slip out as well.

For now, I was just Yuna. Just Yuna who was in love with Tidus.


	10. The News

I'm sad to report that this may be my shortest chapter to date for this story. But, it is past my bedtime, and I just _had _to get this updated! Plus, I wanted it to end where it ended, so what could I do, right?

Also, today when I was teaching tennis lessons, two little boys showed up who are like best friends. They are sooo adorable, and it got me thinking about my characters of Tidus and Gippal from my last year fanfic, _Comb__ined Yards_ (which I'm currently working on turning into a novel, just to remind you all. Ha), would be like when they were little tykes. I might do some sort of bonus thing... I haven't made up my mind yet though. And, sadly, I'm a little too busy for any extra projects. What a sad world, huh? Haha.

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 10: The News**

Every now and then throughout the night, I'd wake myself up, to make sure I wasn't dreaming. It sounds insane, but I didn't really want to sleep. Reality was greater than any dream I could imagine having.

I must have woken myself up every twenty minutes to make sure he was still sleeping next to me, and that I wasn't just dreaming. And every time he was, just inches away, sleeping innocently and adorably beside me. It didn't matter that Baralai would be on his way to visit me in just a matter of hours. It didn't matter that I was supposed to be interviewing Tidus, not sleeping next to him.

Eventually it finally sank in that it was indeed reality. Either that, or exhaustion finally hit, and I fell into a very deep slumber.

Which explains why Tidus was the one who woke me up.

"Yuna!" I heard his voice say softly by my ear.

My eyes flashed open, meeting his.

"Hey?" I just said, sitting up, for he was standing at the side of the bed, his eyes looking alert.

He smiled at me, which ruined the alertness, and said, "Don't you think you should get home before you're missed?"

"Yevon, what time is it?" I asked, alertness now reaching my own eyes.

"Five," Tidus said. "In the morning."

"Oh," I said, relaxing a little. "Only five?"

Tidus laughed and said, "Only five? How much time do you have?"

"N-Not much," I said quickly. "It's just that the night seemed to last so long. But it was only a few hours."

Tidus just shrugged and said, "Come on, I called a taxi for you."

"Great," I said. After all, if Dona was up, it would be better if she wouldn't see me pull up in Tidus' car…with Tidus.

I followed Tidus out his front door, and onto his front porch. Sure enough, a taxi was pulled up, waiting for me.

"Well, call me when you have everything figured out," Tidus said. He held his arms out for me to hug him, and I did, falling quickly into his embrace.

"I'll call you first chance I get," I said. We separated then, but not for long. We kissed quickly, and then finally separated. I said another "bye", and he repeated it back to me, and then I finally made my way to the taxi.

The sun was coming up already, and it was rather bright outside. I climbed into the taxi and looked back at Tidus. He was standing there, his eyes on the taxi, and he looked rather thoughtful. I smiled as I wondered what he was thinking about, and with that, the taxi was off.

The further away from Tidus' I got, though, the more my smile faded. Soon I would have to face Baralai. I tried to think back to my conversation with Tidus. It was true, I really liked Tidus and Baralai had quickly faded into the very back of my mind, but I didn't know if I could just break up with Baralai. Telling Tidus I had a boyfriend had been hard. Telling Baralai I was cheating on him though…

I felt a pain in my stomach. It wasn't that I didn't want to tell Baralai. It was the fact that what I had done was morally wrong. It was unlike me. It was something that was looked down upon! And Baralai would tell people… and then people would get the wrong idea of me…

The more I thought, the more my stomach hurt. I couldn't tell Baralai. I wouldn't tell Baralai.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I hadn't told Tidus that I'd break up with Baralai—at least not immediately—and I could only hope that Tidus would understand. For the time being, of course.

For now, I wasn't going to break up with Baralai. I'd spend the weekend pretending to be completely committed to Baralai and only Baralai, and everything would be flawless.

The taxi pulled up to the hotel, and the driver turned to me and smiled.

"Your friend already paid," he said. "Let me guess, the two of you are in a rather secretive relationship."

I laughed and said, "Well, that's kind of true."

I thanked him then and left, and quickly went into the building. I could only hope that Dona was still sleeping.

As I stood in the elevator, I thought up a lie. It was horrible, but it truly was becoming second nature. I let out a deep breath and looked at the ceiling. I was becoming quite the little sinner. Cheating and lying, and as if they both came to me naturally. I felt a little grin grow on my lips. Maybe Zanarkand really was corrupt. Either that, or I'd always been corrupt, and Zanarkand was just bringing it out. Or was it Tidus that was bringing it out? I let out a sigh. I had myself to blame, and only myself.

As soon as I reached my floor, I practically ran to my room. I slid the cardkey and in I walked. I shut the door softly behind me, and turned around, only to feel my face drop. Standing across from me was not only Dona, but Baralai as well.

Even a professional liar like myself couldn't hide my shock. My eyes were wide and my stomach was doing circles.

"There you are," Dona said. "Where have you been? All night long?"

"R-Rikku needed me," I said, regaining myself and remembering the lie I'd designed on my way to the room. I forced a smile, and I said, "Baralai! You're here early!"

"I tried to call you to tell you," Baralai said, his face full of anger, "but you never called me back."

I felt my stomach fall even further. Right, I was supposed to call him. Instead, I'd called Tidus.

"I'm so sorry," I said. "Things here are awfully hectic." I forced a little laugh. "I swear, I'm trying to do everything! But it's so great to see you Baralai!" I walked toward him and hugged him, but he seemed refusing to hug me back. I cursed in my mind. So he wasn't buying my lie.

"What?" I just said as I stepped away from him, meeting both Baralai and Dona's glares. "I'm sorry!"

"Why would Rikku call you so late at night?" Dona just questioned. "And… why did you have to go back there? You were already with her earlier."

"She's having major relationship problems," I said slowly. "She's really upset."

"I didn't think she had a boyfriend," Dona said, giving me a nasty look.

"Why would I lie?" I just said. "Oh my gosh, you guys don't think…" I laughed. "I'm helping out because I have such a great relationship with Baralai!"

Baralai's face softened a little, but Dona still glared at me suspiciously. It didn't matter to me though if Dona was still suspicious. For the time being, only Baralai mattered.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay," Baralai said. "I was worried something had happened to you."

"No, I'm fine," I said. "Now, if you guys will excuse me, I'd like to get dressed. And… um, it's kind of early… don't you think we should sleep?"

"Definitely," Baralai said, and it was then that I realized how tired he looked. I swallowed loudly. He must have been up most of the night worrying about me, while I was sleeping rather happily at Tidus' side.

I could only conceal a smile. How selfish of me.

"I got a room on the fifth floor," Baralai said. "So I'll see you sometime later in the morning?"

"Definitely," I said, giving him a small smile. "I'm so sorry I worried you. It was… really selfish of me."

Baralai just smiled, and then he pecked me on the cheek, and walked out the door.

As soon as the door was shut though, Dona turned to me, and said, "I know you're up to something, and I'm going to find out what it is."

I only smiled at her, and said, "I'm really tired Dona. I'll see you in like three hours." With that, I walked over to my bed and climbed in it, turned away from Dona, and went quickly to sleep.

-

"So this is Zanarkand, huh? Talk about a dirty city," Baralai said, with his nose scrunched in disgust. We were sitting at a restaurant by the sea, just as the sun was setting. Dona sat across from us, but she was far too busy texting someone on her phone.

"You think it's dirty?" I questioned. "I think it's beautiful."

"Are you kidding me?" Baralai said, shaking his head.

"It's absolutely majestic," I said, shaking my own head.

"Oh Yevon," Dona suddenly said, looking up at me. "Come on you guys, I need to find a newsstand."

"What for?" I asked.

To this, Dona just glanced up at me, and said, "Barthello just texted me and said there was something I should see."

Baralai and I exchanged glances, but I just shrugged, and we followed Dona. We had already paid and eaten, and were just talking, mostly about Zanarkand. Now, though, we were quickly walking down the street, following Dona with confused looks on our face.

Soon enough, we came across a newsstand, and Dona ran up to it, which just caused Baralai and I to exchange confused looks.

Dona grabbed a tabloid and looked back at me, and then back at the tabloid, a strange smile on her face. Then, she turned toward Baralai and myself, and she ran up to us, that smile still on her face.

"Wow Yuna, you're quite the little star," she said, and with that, she turned the tabloid toward me.

My face slowly dropped, and I knew Baralai's did too, for on the cover of the tabloid was a huge picture of Tidus and me kissing, right on his front step, undoubtedly from this morning.

"You were with Rikku, huh?" Dona said, tossing a quarter to the man at the newsstand for the tabloid. "Not according to this you weren't. I knew something was up."

Baralai took the tabloid from Dona's hands and stared at it wide-eyed, and then looked at me.

"Baralai, I can explain," I said quickly, as I felt all of the color drain from my face.

"Oh, she sure can," Dona said. "Yuna, how could you be _that _desperate for the interview? _That _desperate that you would sleep with him?"

Baralai almost dropped the tabloid at my side, and he gave me a rather shocked face.

"I didn't—," I started, only to get cut off by Dona.

"Face it Baralai, she cheated on you. And all for some interview. How could you be that desperate that you would sink to that level Yuna? How could you—."

"I didn't sleep with him!" I cried, quite loudly. I vaguely became aware of the fact that we were causing a scene, but I didn't care. "Well, I…"

"I can't believe it," Baralai said. He shook his head, his face full of denial. "That internship means that much to you?"

"It's not about it," I said quickly.

"Then what's it about?" Dona asked, her face close to mine.

I backed away from her, and shook my head. What could I say? I couldn't say that I honestly had feelings for Tidus, not right there in front of Baralai.

I became conscious that everybody on the street was staring at me, undoubtedly because I was the face on the tabloids that they had all just walked by.

"Let's go," I said softly.

"What's wrong Yuna, embarrassed?" Dona simply said, her tone snotty.

"I would just rather not discuss it here," I snapped at her. We weren't far from the hotel, so I simply kept my chin firm, and started toward my hotel, swinging my handbag back and forth as I walked. Baralai and Dona stood still, watching me, before they finally started following me.

"Yuna!" I heard Baralai's voice, and soon he was at my side. "Is it really true? Did you really… I mean… are you really…"

I stopped, and turned around.

"Baralai," I said, shaking my head. "I'm sorry, I truly am. Maybe Dona's right. Maybe I really was so wrapped up in wanting that interview that I really did get… desperate."

Baralai just shook his head.

"It's over, Yuna," he said then, and he walked quickly past me. "Maybe I'll see you around campus sometime."

"Baralai wait!" I cried, surprised that I was actually calling him back. Had he just broken up with me?

"We're through, Yuna," Baralai just said, without stopping. "I'm tired of you choosing this stupid intern over me."

His words had me taken aback, but only slightly. I almost wanted to laugh.

"So I could cheat on you, but you wouldn't care. It's all because I didn't spend the summer with you," I said, and I even let out a little laugh.

Baralai just glared at me, and said, "So you admit to cheating on me? It's about the interview Yuna, I know."

I walked up to him, a smug smile on my mouth.

"Actually Baralai," I said, still smiling, "it's a little bit of both. Yes, I want that interview. But you know what, I happen to love Tidus, and I would choose him over you any day." With that, I stomped off in the opposite direction of Baralai and the hotel. Dona, who was standing 

just a little ways away from us, seemed shocked at the conversation that had just passed between us.

"Where are you going?" I heard her cry from her spot.

"That's none of your business!" I just shouted at her from over my shoulder. With that, I waved down a taxi, and hastily climbed in.

Of course I was going to see Tidus.


	11. The Mode

Okay, I know I'm like a day late, but this is one of my longest chapters (if not the longest!) for this story! And, I personally think it's exciting. You see, I have a confession to make: I have certain scenes in my head and a very vague outline, but I never really know where a story is going to go. When I was writing this chapter, I didn't really know where I was going, and before I knew it, I was rearranging my outline and things were happening way faster than I'd planned! This may sound horrible, but it was actually really exhilarating! My pulse was even pounding as I wrote! (Haha, I hope your pulse races when you read it!) I don't know, I think it was exciting for me, because at the end, I really didn't know what... well, I don't want to ruin it for you. Anyway, a lot happens in this chapter, despite the fact that it's mostly just conversations between Yuna and certain people. Haha...

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

**Chapter 11: The Mode**

The taxi rolled up to Tidus' house just as dusk was settling in. I quickly paid my fare and hopped out, and I could only hope that Tidus was home.

My mind was a mess. I couldn't think clearly. Nothing was making sense to me. Hadn't Tidus told me long ago that the media didn't mess with him much? Why now? It was horrible timing.

I walked up to Tidus' door feeling rather tired, and quite frankly, paranoid. Was there paparazzi around every corner? Would I be featured in the next day's tabloid as "Tidus' Girl Comes Back for More"?

As I reached out to knock on Tidus' door, it opened, and Tidus' face greeted me. A small smile was on his mouth, which only caused my face to fall. I took it he didn't know about the tabloid.

"Hey Tidus," I just said softly. "Um, I'm glad you're home."

"Yeah, me too, I guess," Tidus said, and I noticed now that the small smile on his lips was a confused one. "Come on in." I walked in, and he shut the door behind him, and then turned around so that he was leaning against the door, his arms crossed in front of him. "So where's the boyfriend?"

I sighed, and said, "He dumped me."

Tidus laughed. I found myself glaring at his laughter.

"It's not funny, Tidus," I said, my glare intent on his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Tidus said, the smile disappearing from his mouth, although I noticed that his eyes were literally twinkling from amusement. "It's just that I hadn't expected him to do that so soon. You know, since the two of you were probably supposedly in love and stuff."

I felt myself frown in confusion, and Tidus just shook his head, a smile back on his lips. He walked over to his living room, and returned with a tabloid in his hand.

"Was it over this?" he asked, flashing me the picture of him and myself kissing.

"Yes, it was," I said, my tone angry. "Wait, you know about the tabloid? Tidus, aren't you ticked? Aren't you—."

"None of the above," Tidus just said, as he set the tabloid back down and looked at it instead of at me. "I'm the one that tipped them off."

"What?" I cried, and I felt myself stomping over to him. "Tidus, how could you? You just called them and told them to come early in the morning to get a picture of us!"

"Whoa, relax Yuna," Tidus said, backing away from me. "Trust me, it's not like I'm not being punished. My coach is pissed. He wants me to move and everything. We can't have media involvement."

I found myself pressing my lips together. There was so much I wanted to say to him. I wanted to know why he did it, and what his motives were. The worst thing was, more than anything, I wanted to ask him why he pushed away the whole no media involvement. I wanted to push him into his couch and force him to interview right then and there. But I couldn't. I simply remained where I was, my body somewhat numb, and my lips tightly pressed together, my jaw set.

"Do you want something to drink?" Tidus just asked.

"I don't believe you," I said, shaking my head. "Don't you realize that the paparazzi will be watching us like hawks now? You're okay with that?"

"Of course I realize that!" Tidus said, and he pushed his way past me and toward his living room. I followed him slowly, with my arms crossed over my chest, my lips pressed into a line once again.

"Then why did you do it?" I asked Tidus as he plopped down into his leather couch.

"Because," Tidus said, looking up at me, "I knew you weren't going to break up with your boyfriend."

"Tidus, that's ridiculous," I said, taking a seat next to him. "I would have. Um, eventually…"

"Yeah, _eventually_," Tidus said. "Look Yuna, I'm not used to being the one that's being toyed with. So, I decided to mess with your apparent happiness a little."

I closed my eyes and sunk back into his couch. I didn't know why, but I felt like crying. Maybe it was because it was finally dawning on me that I was caught; busted. Or maybe it was because Tidus' words were right. I was going to go on living as I had been, pretending that what I was doing was fine. What I'd been doing wasn't fair. It wasn't fair for Baralai. It wasn't fair for Tidus. And it wasn't fair for me.

"Maybe I went too far…" I heard Tidus mumble at my side. "I mean, I knew it was risky, but I had to do it, Yuna. And trust me, that tabloid was more than happy to have their hands on this story."

"You should have let _The Mode_ do the story," I murmured, and I almost smiled at the irony of the thought.

"_The Mode_…" Tidus said softly, and was then silence. My eyes flashed open and I looked at him, only to see a very disgusted look plastered across his face. "I would never let those assholes cover anything about me."

"What, why?" I asked, feeling somewhat shocked at his words and also rather gleeful that I had somehow managed to get his opinion on _The Mode_ without fully blowing my cover. "That's my favorite magazine."

Tidus gave me a very disgusted look, and said, "They're the reason the Abes are the way they are. We'd be such sell-outs if we went to them. They'd have like full-out posters of us shirtless or something. Or like bedroom scenes of me looking all sexy and dumb. I'm a blitzball player, not some model."

"They're not that tasteless!" I quickly said defensively. "I'm sure they'd want to conduct a very sophisticated interview with you or something."

"No, they'd act more like this trashy tabloid," Tidus said, nodding to the tabloid that was sitting near us. "You're right, I should have called them. They would have loved to put together an article about who I'm sleeping with."

His words angered me, and although I didn't want to change the subject, I did.

"You know," I said, pointing to the tabloid, "people all think very lowly of me now. Baralai and Dona _both _think I slept with you."

"You did," Tidus just said, staring at me blankly.

"Well, I did, but not like that!" I cried. "Yevon, is it a crime to sleep next to someone?"

Tidus just laughed, and said, "I'm sorry that people got the wrong idea."

"You wanted them to get the wrong idea," I pointed out quickly.

"Now, I swear Yuna, I'm totally clueless."

"Shut up!" I found myself saying to him, my tone very angry, my eyes close to tearing. "This is my reputation, Tidus! You've totally tainted it."

"Yuna, you're just some girl," Tidus said, shaking his head at me, a look of disbelief across his face. "No one cares about you. Except for Baralai and your friend. Think about _me_. Everybody across Spira think I slept with you. Nobody knows your name, but everybody knows mine."

"Big deal Tidus. You're a guy. It's sad, but it's no big deal. Everybody thinks you sleep around anyway, and you probably do, and they'll all just hope I'm not your girlfriend or your fiancée because they want you all to themselves."

"You don't know me at all, do you?" Tidus just said, shaking his head at me with a disgusted look plastered across his face once again. "You don't even know the first thing about me."

"Of course I do," I said, not bothering to hide the snotty tone of my voice. "You're a little rat who only thinks about yourself."

"Whoa," Tidus said, apparently taken aback. "_That_'s the first thing about me? Give me a break, Yuna. You're the one who was cheating on your boyfriend without feeling any guilt. You're the one who would have gone back to him and just left me in the dust like I meant nothing to you. You're lucky I gave you the second chance I gave you. Do you think I'm dumb, Yuna? That I'd believe that you'd go back to your stupid Baralai and tell him that you were cheating on him? You were just going to hide it. So I decided to go ahead and tell him myself. And do you want to know why I did that, Yuna?" He paushed, apparently awaiting for a response from me. I said nothing, and I simply glared at him.

He rolled his eyes and looked away from me, and said, "I did it, Yuna, because I really like you. A lot. And the thought about having to share you, or be your number two guy just… I couldn't handle it. So this morning I called the tabloid, tipped them off, and did what I did. And unlike Baralai, I'm still here. I still…" He paused, and looked at me, and then looked away. "I still love you," he finally said.

I let out a soft gasp and snapped my head to look at him, a look of shock across my face. He refused to look back at me though, and instead focused his attention on his hands, which were clasped together, resting across his knees.

He let out a loud sigh then, and stood up. "But I don't know who you love," he just said, stuffing his hands in his pockets, his eyes now on the tabloid.

I closed my eyes again, and then stood up as well. I put my hand gingerly on his shoulder, and said, "You see… it's not about _who _I love. It's really complicated, but… Honestly, between you and Baralai, I would choose you. I swear it Tidus. It's just that the idea of cheating made me… Well it's not me, Tidus. It's not something I'd do. You believe that, don't you?"

Tidus looked at me, his blue eyes intent on mine, and he said, "Then why'd you do it?"

I found myself searching his eyes, and I finally took a deep breath and said, "Because I was falling in love with you way too quickly. And because, quite honestly, the whole really feeling in love thing was totally knew to me. I always thought I was in love with Baralai, but the more I was with you, the more I realized that it wasn't love I felt toward Baralai. But the idea scared me Tidus. I mean… I really can't… I mean, couldn't… fall in love with you."

I took a deep breath and continued. "I kept thinking it was like a dream. That one day, I would just wake up and not love you anymore. That everything would be back to normal, and that I'd be thinking clearly again. Honestly, I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but a part of me was hoping that you were just a mistake. That I was just flattered by the attention you were giving me. But instead, the more time I spent with you, the deeper and deeper I fell. Until I was so deep that I couldn't go up for air.

"The truth is, Tidus… I'm glad that this happened. It's just that I wish I had done things differently. I don't understand how you can be so forgiving of me. What I did was terrible, and horrible, and…"

Tidus' light laughter interrupted me. I looked up at him, and he just gave me a small, crooked smile.

"I get the point," he said. "Look, what I did was wrong too. I should have just told you how I felt and talked with you about it."

"Yeah, we probably could have figured something out," I agreed. "But what's done is done, right?"

"Right," Tidus said. "But hey, I'm sorry if it ruined your reputation."

I licked my lips and looked at the ground. It wasn't my reputation that I was entirely worried about. But I couldn't exactly explain that to Tidus. Instead, I decided that the best thing to do was bring _The Mode_ up again. After all, Tidus and I were being honest with each other, perhaps for the first time, and there was still a big secret holding me down.

"So anyway Tidus," I said, softly. "What do you have against _The Mode_? I mean, why don't you and your teammates do like an interview or something. They always have things on famous people and blitzball teams and stuff."

Tidus' disgusted look returned, and he just shook his head. "I already told you. _The Mode _is full of assholes. Trust me Yuna."

"Well, why don't you guys do anything for any magazines? There are other magazines out there."

"We don't want to be sell-outs."

"You wouldn't be a sell-out!" I said, laughing, being that I was trying to keep the conversation nice and casual.

"That's what they all say," Tidus said. "First I'd be doing this nice, sophisticated interview that you were talking about, and then I'd be doing bedroom poses. Trust me, that's how it works. The money gets to you, you know. Right now, I'm making plenty without the help of endorsements. Anymore money, and it could easily go to my head."

"You're too good for that," I said, giving him a smile. "It wouldn't go to your head."

"Sure it would," Tidus said. "I'd start acting like Kiryl."

I laughed, and said, "You would not!"

Tidus laughed too, and said, "Well, maybe not me, but someone would. And after a while, the fame would start getting to me. I just know it. I mean, it's cool. It's a cool idea to know that girls all over the world would have a poster of me in their bedroom. But I have to focus on my blitz, not my image. Right?"

"Right, but you could do both," I said surely.

"Trust me Yuna, I think I know more about it than you do."

I laughed at his words, and only wished I could tell him that I didn't think that statement was one-hundred-percent true.

Tidus sat back down on the couch, and I followed. Looking off into nothing, Tidus sighed and said, "Didn't it surprise you that I was… you know, decent. For a blitzball player?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but instead I just nodded in agreement. It was true. Even now, I was shocked at how decent he was, how sweet he was.

"That could all change you know," he said. "One day, I could just wake up and be a totally different guy. The fame will have gotten to me, the money, everything."

"You're worried about nothing," I said, shaking my head at him.

"Look Yuna," Tidus said, and he turned to face me, his eyes rather urgent as they looked into mine. "My old man was just like me. Young, talented, and the guy that everybody wanted to know about. And, like me and the rest of the Abes, he liked his privacy, he liked to be able to do whatever he wanted, and he kind of enjoyed that air of mystery that he carried. He met a nice woman—my mother—had me, and kind of lost that cool factor. He was still an awesome blitzer and stuff, but people weren't as interested since he was married and all. So, he finally gave in, and did an interview for _The Mode_.

"It was fine. It was well-written and even made him seem pretty classy and stuff. It was so popular. I'm telling you, that's how _The Mode _became as popular as it is today. Thanks to that interview. Well, of course they wanted more. So they got him to do the bedroom poses and all that stupid stuff. At first he declined, but they offered him so much money that he couldn't turn it down. By the time I was five, he'd done tons of gaudy photo shoots for that damn magazine. And with every new five-page spread about him, the more it got to his head. He started staying out late. He started drinking. He started having an affair with the wench that wrote the interviews."

The more Tidus talked, the more I felt my face fall. So there really was a reason Tidus hated _The Mode_? The worst part was the fact that he wasn't even finished talking. There was more to his story, and I'd just have to sit and listen.

"Her name was Leblanc," Tidus said then, and I felt my heart stop.

"Leblanc?" I cried. "She was the—."

"The writer? Yeah. Her "Jecht series" became so popular that she's like the editor or like the president or something now. You know her?"

"I've heard of her," I said quickly.

"Yeah, she's the slimy little bitch that manipulated my old man and turned him into a monster. She's like one of Spira's most successful women or something like that, but she's just a whore."

"Wow…" I said slowly. "She's like… I mean, she's weird and stuff, but I always looked up to her so much." That was the truth.

"My old man thought he was pretty special, because of how she wrote and how popular the articles were. He'd go out partying every night, forgetting about Mom and me. It wasn't long before he drank himself to death. He never did know when to stop."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said slowly.

"The worst part was that my mom loved him through it all. She like practically committed suicide."

"Oh…" was all I could manage.

"So like cancel your subscription to that magazine or something," Tidus finally said, smiling at me. I had to look away from his smile though, for guilt once again was boiling in my stomach.

"Maybe it's not like that anymore though," I said, giving him a hopeful smile.

"Leblanc's in charge. How could it not be like that anymore?" Tidus just questioned. "They just want to sell me. Or buy me… I'm not really sure which one it is. And then I'll probably like have some ugly affair with whoever writes the interview and she'll soak my popularity from me. And then I'll become an alcoholic and die."

I had a feeling that he was trying to be somewhat funny, but I found myself hopeful. After all, _I _was the one who would be writing it. I felt my stomach fall. Something told me that 

if I told Tidus that he was already having—well, kind of having—an affair with the girl who would write the interview would only make him mad. But I decided to at least try.

"I've heard that they brought in new reporters to try and cover your story," I said. "And from what I understand, they're super nice and sweet. I don't think they're anything like Leblanc."

"Doesn't matter," Tidus just said. "I couldn't do it, you know? Not after everything that magazine put me through."

"Not even if I wrote it?" I put a huge smile on and tried to make it seem like I was just being dumb and ditzy, while I was actually praying he wouldn't see right through me.

He must not have, though, for he leaned close to me, and said, "Trust me, if you so much as tried, you'd never see me again." He smiled then, and kissed my forehead, and stood up, stretching as he did so.

I just sat there, completely in shock. It made sense. It all finally made sense.

-

Waiting for the elevator to arrive on floor thirteen had me more nervous than it had my first day in Zanarkand. I had no idea what I was going to do or say. It was time to choose, and I wasn't ready.

_The Mode_ was everything I'd always wanted. And I was so close to having it. Well, close, but not really close enough. There was no way I could talk Tidus into the interview. But, if for some strange reason I could change his mind, things could go smoothly. That was unlikely though, as much as I hated to admit it, and although it hurt me to think about it, I knew more and more that I would have to choose between the interview and Tidus.

But first, I had to face Leblanc, who had, of course, seen the tabloid, and who, of course, wanted to see me immediately. I didn't know what I was going to tell her, and even though the elevator ride was seeming to take years, there was no way I could decide before I reached that dreaded floor.

The elevator finally dinged on floor thirteen, and the doors opened, revealing a burst of whiteness. I stepped into the small room and went straight to the almost-invisible white door and knocked loudly. It wasn't long before it was opened by the tall Logos, who simply looked down at me, and motioned for me to enter. Timidly, I walked into the blaringly pink room, while Logos left, and closed the door behind him.

Sitting at her desk with her hands folded sat Leblanc, her hair piled under an old-fashioned pink hat, and her hat-matching pink lips were curled into a wide smile.

"Yuna!" she said, her voice loud and booming. "Please, come take a seat!"

I walked quickly to the seat that she motioned to and sat down.

"I have to say," she began immediately, "that I am amazingly impressed. I'm not going to lie, Yuna, I had high hopes for you. Much higher hopes than I had for your friend. But, I was beginning to think that you were a dud. But this has proved me wrong." With that, she slapped the tabloid on the table, and pointed with a pink nail at the picture of Tidus and me kissing.

I felt myself blush as any girl would if her boss was pointing to a picture of her kissing her boyfriend or any guy for that matter. It was awkward, after all.

"So tell me, when will you have the interview?" Leblanc asked me then.

"Well, Leblanc…" I started slowly, "I haven't exactly told Tidus yet."

"Oh, well what are you waiting for?" Leblanc questioned me, her face full of confusion. "Honey, trust me, you only need to sleep with him once, and he should give you something in return."

"L-Leblanc," I said, my eyes opening wide at her words, "I didn't sleep with him, exactly."

"It's alright Yuna," Leblanc said, giving me an even more confused look. "I know what you did. You don't have to deny it."

"But I'm not lying," I said, shaking my head. "Honestly, I'm not. I spent the night with Tidus, yes, but we didn't do anything."

"Then what were you doing?" Leblanc asked me, her face falling.

"I was… I was just… Well, sleeping next to him."

"Why?" she demanded.

"Because he asked me to."

"Please Yuna, you expect me to believe that? Believe me Yuna, I am proud of you for doing this. Don't think it's a bad thing."

"Leblanc, Tidus and I… we…"

Leblanc's pink lips slowly moved back into a smile, and her eyes looked deeply into mine. She leaned forward, and said, "Let me guess… you think he loves you."

"Well…" I said slowly.

"Yuna, Tidus could have any woman he wants. Why would he choose you? He's just playing with you, which is why you need to stay on top of your game. You have him where you want him. Especially if you think—if you truly think!—he loves you. That's perfect. Make him want to do anything for you. And get that interview."

"Leblanc, I don't know if I can," I said quickly, and I couldn't hide the shake in my voice.

"Love," Leblanc said, giving me a strange, almost motherly smile, "I was in your shoes once. Madly in love with a blitzball player who I was supposed to interview…"

"Jecht," I said quickly.

"Ah, so Tidus told you?" Leblanc said. "Love, look at where I am now. All of this is because of what I did. _The Mode _has become Spira's number one magazine. My job is incredible. This can all be yours. If you get this interview, you'll be number two in command. Isn't that what you want?"

"I'm not sure what I want anymore…" I admitted.

"Yuna, think about it: this is your only option. You've already wronged Tidus in so many ways. Have you been honest with him about anything? You can't have a relationship based on lies. It just doesn't work."

"But I'm trying to fix it," I said quickly.

"There's always the chance that you can have both the job and the guy," Leblanc said. "But is it fair to flush down all of your dreams and aspirations because of some guy?"

"No," I said. Well, it wasn't.

"I know how much you want this," Leblanc said. "The job here at _The Mode_, that is. If Tidus truly loves you, he'll understand. He has to. Besides, you're not me. That's something he has to understand, too. I'm giving you five days, okay?"

I gasped. "Five days?"

"Five days," Leblanc repeated. "I want to see a rough draft on my desk on Friday. You do that, and I will make you the co-editor of _The Mode_."

Leblanc smiled, and held out her hand for me to shake.

I stared at it for some time, before I finally closed my eyes and nodded. Leblanc was right: this was what I wanted, what I had worked for. With that, I forced a smile, and shook Leblanc's hand.

I had five days.


	12. The Umbrella

Okay, it's 22 minutes past my bedtime, and I skipped shaving my legs (EEK.) to write this chapter! So while you guys are (hopefully) enjoying this chapter, I'll be playing tennis while everybody is like "Um, why didn't she shave her legs...?" Heh...heh...

Anyway though, it is a shorter chapter, but I HAD to get it out... because I'm going on vacation on Thursday! So I don't know how soon I'll be able to get another chapter out... oopsies on my part, huh? And the saddest thing of all is that there are only going to be like two more chapters! I can't believe I'm already almost finished with this story... it's crazy!

ENJOY!

**Chapter 12: The Umbrella**

It was time to come clean to Tidus. Completely clean. I would have no more secrets.

We agreed to meet at his house, being that we no longer had to meet in secret. Apparently Tidus had taken care of the whole tabloid problem, or so he assured me. I trusted him though, especially since I knew that he was definitely more trustworthy than I was. Which, well, wasn't saying much.

I was nervous as I walked up to his front door. I knew that I would either be successful or unsuccessful, and there was no in-between. No matter what happened though, I knew I would just have to suck it up, and deal with any consequences.

It was about one o'clock in the afternoon, but Leblanc had given Dona and me the entire week off. I knew it was because Leblanc was expecting me to get the interview. As for Dona, I had no idea if she knew that was the reasoning or not. All I knew was that Dona had acted awfully defeated. It was almost as if she didn't think it was worth trying anymore, since I obviously had the upper-hand. I had, after all, "slept with Tidus".

My heart pounded as I knocked on the door. The day was surprisingly cool, and for the first day ever since my arrival in Zanarkand, there were many clouds in the sky, and it even looked as if it could rain. The idea of rain seemed doubtful, since every day had been so sunny and happy.

"Hey Yuna!" Tidus greeted me with a smile, his eyes sparkling. "You know, it's pretty sweet now that everybody knows about us, isn't it? That meeting at night in secret stuff wasn't for me."

"Yeah," I just said, giving him a small smile.

He welcomed me in, and started toward the living room, still talking. "So what has Rikku said about us?"

I felt my smile fade. I had tried to call Rikku many times. She refused to pick up.

"Well, she's not very happy," I said, but I put on a smile. "But she'll get over it. Eventually…"

"Well," Tidus said, crossing his arms, "give her some time."

"So what exactly went on between you two?" I asked, taking a seat once more on his oversized couch. I felt myself let out a sigh. It seemed as if every time I had something to admit to Tidus, or he had something to admit to me, we were on that couch.

"Rikku and I?" Tidus asked, giving me a shocked look. "Oh, nothing really."

"It's not like her to be this upset," I said, giving him a knowing glare.

Tidus just let out a chuckle and looked straight ahead. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, and said, "Well, maybe I toyed around with her too much."

"Um, what do you mean by that?" I asked, feeling somewhat happy that Tidus had something to admit, just as I did. It was weird that I was _hoping _he had something juicy to explain to me.

"Last summer there were these little parties I liked to go to. And Rikku was always there. It was like a group of me and five other players, and then like Rikku and some of her friends. Small parties. We played video games and stuff, you know, nothing really bad or anything. Well, Rikku started getting real flirty with me and stuff, but I wasn't interested in her, but my friends said she was hot and I should go for her, and I was like, okay, she is hot, but I mean, I didn't really think that—well I did, but…"

I almost laughed at how Tidus was rambling, but I couldn't help but feel as if something major had happened between Tidus and Rikku. Rikku, my cousin, whose undying devotion to me had always been ignored. Was it really right of me to sit there, dangerously close to Tidus, without feeling some sort of guilt?

"The guys thought I should, you know, mess around with her," Tidus continued. "So I did. I took her to a movie. And she was like totally in love with me, you know…" I saw Tidus give me a side-glance from the corner of my eyes. "Well, I guess I kind of led her to believe I really liked her. So then when she started hanging out with me obsessively, I got sick of it and told her to get lost."

"That's all?" I asked. "You didn't… you know… do anything with her?"

"Yevon no," Tidus said, giving me a weird smile. "Okay Yuna, honestly now, what do you think I'm like? What would a typical day in the life of Tidus be like if you weren't here?"

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion over his question, but I knew what he was asking. Instead of answering though, I decided to turn his question into the opening of my own confession. After all, the more he talked about my cousin loving him, the guiltier I did feel. Well, or so I told myself. The sad thing was that I was feeling guilt over the fact that I didn't feel guilty. Or maybe it was guilt over the fact that I had hoped that Tidus had done something with my cousin, just so I had something to balance out my own horribleness.

A sigh escaped my mouth, and I glanced over at Tidus, who was looking at me, awaiting my answer to his question. I knew deep down inside that Tidus was a great guy. Perfect. He was the perfect guy.

My stomach twisted in the depths of my stomach. In less than ten minutes, I was going to lose the guy of my dreams.

"Tidus," I said, my voice cracking as his name came out. "I have a huge confession to make." I couldn't do it. I couldn't do the interview.

"What?" Tidus asked. "It's okay if you think badly of me, Yuna. I mean, I am a blitzball player. I'm supposed to be wild and crazy and stuff. If you think I'm like that, that's fine. Wait… are you like that?"

I just looked at him, my eyes wide and solemn. This was it.

"Tidus," I began again, "This has been really great, it has, but I… I have to go back to Bevelle."

"What?" Tidus asked, and a look of utter confusion crossed his face. "What do you mean?"

"I love it here so much, and I… I'm so madly in love with you, but I've been so unfair to you. Leblanc's right: it couldn't work out between us. Not when I've based this relationship on lies and—."

"Whoa, _Leblanc_?" Tidus asked, cutting me off. "What does she have to do with anything?"

"She's my… my boss," I said slowly. "The reason I'm here is because I'm interning for _The Mode_."

"No way…" Tidus said at my side. The same look of disgust that had been on his face when I'd mentioned _The Mode _before returned to his face, but this time I knew it wasn't directed at _The Mode_. It was directed toward me.

"Yes," I said. "And my main task was to… well, to interview you."

Tidus' head snapped to face me so fast that I almost jumped. His cold eyes met mine, and honestly, if he could have shot darts out of his eyes, I knew he would have.

"I'm sorry," I managed.

"So all this time…" he said, shaking his head. "It was just about that damn interview. That damn interview that you're not getting."

"No Tidus!" I said quickly. "It wasn't about the interview! I swear! True, I was on that cruise because of _The Mode_, but I hadn't even expected to be able to talk to you! And I was—well, I was kind of thinking about the interview, but the more I saw you, the more I forgot about the interview! Honestly. If I had to choose between _The Mode_ and you, I'd choose—."

"_The Mode_," Tidus finished for me.

"No, you!" I cried. "In fact, I know you're not going to forgive me. You couldn't. I understand that. That's why I'm telling Leblanc that I'm not going to do it. I'm going back to Bevelle."

Tidus looked confused again, as if he didn't understand what I'd just said.

"So you're not even going to try to interview me?" he asked slowly.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "I can't."

He swallowed, and then looked away from me.

"Well, have a nice trip back to Bevelle," he said then. He looked at me again, his eyes still cold. "I'll walk you to the door."

He stood up then, and I followed, slowly. So this was it. I really had lost the guy of my dreams. Just by telling the truth. I closed my eyes, mostly to keep tears from spilling out. It served me right, after all.

Tidus walked swiftly to the door, ignoring the fact that I was walking slowly. He swung the door open forcefully, and said, "It's raining."

I heard and smelled the rain before I saw it. Raining wasn't even the right word for it. It was pouring.

I stopped in my tracks, and looked past Tidus to see the rain coming down hard. It almost took me aback. I didn't know that it could rain in a city as beautiful and majestic as Zanarkand.

Tidus looked upset though, and he turned around swiftly, only to stop as his eyes met mine. The disgusted look returned to his face, and he finally reached behind the door and pulled out an umbrella.

"Take this," he just said, and he shoved the umbrella into my hands. I took it without saying anything.

"Pout all you want, but it—," he started, but I quickly interrupted him.

"I'm not trying to pout," I said. "It's just that I… I've been such an idiot. And I'm just now realizing it."

Tidus laughed. "No Yuna, the only idiot here is me. Like I said before, have a safe trip back to Bevelle. Say hi to Leblanc for me, too." He let out a sound of disgust, and then walked quickly past me, his arm rubbing gently against mine. I sighed and opened the door, and stepped into the pouring rain.

I put the umbrella up quickly, and stumbled away from his house. My body felt numb. If I was crying, I couldn't tell.

So that was it. I was returning to Bevelle.

I walked for a long time, with my mind blank. I didn't know where I was, and I didn't care. The once beautiful city no longer seemed beautiful. It no longer seemed majestic. Instead, it looked gray and dull. The streets were almost empty, except for a couple that walked ahead of me, sharing their umbrella. I looked up at my umbrella, the umbrella that Tidus had been so kind to give me. I wished I was walking underneath it with him.

Eventually I came across a small pier that overlooked the ocean. It reminded me of Tidus' deck, the place where I'd first met him. Even though any view of the ocean had been beautiful, the view from Tidus' deck had been the best. But that was view that I would never see again. Not that it mattered, since the city had definitely lost its magnificence. At least to my eyes.

Slowly, I lowered the umbrella, closed my eyes, and tilted my head back so that I could feel the surprisingly chilly rain on my face.

The city was a lot like Tidus in a sense. I had fallen in love with both far too fast. I knew I was in love with Zanarkand before I'd even breathed the air. I knew I was in love with Tidus before I'd even taken the chance to know him. Without the city, I wouldn't have found Tidus. And without Tidus, I wouldn't have truly understood Zanarkand's beauty.

Both were gone now though. I would return to Bevelle with nothing. I had no boyfriend, no "dream job", and really, I didn't even have a good story to tell. Nobody would want to hear about how I'd spent my summer cheating on my boyfriend and misleading a guy to believe that I was something I wasn't. Nobody would want to hear how I just left _The Mode_, because I had fallen in love with the guy I was supposed to interview. There was a moral, I was sure, but I was far too blind to see it. I didn't want to see it.

I was now soaked. But that didn't matter. It felt good to feel the cold water on me, to know that despite the fact that my body was numb, I could still feel the coldness as it seeped through my clothes and into my skin. _Into my skin._ I let out a very loud sigh. How was I ever going to get Tidus out of my mind?

Slowly, I raised the umbrella over my head again, although it didn't really matter, since I was already wet, and I turned around, only to have my eyes widen. Standing there, as soaked as I was, was Tidus.

"Tidus?" I managed, despite my shock. It was then that I felt a large teardrop run down my face. Of course, it wasn't because I was sad. It was quite the opposite.

"Um, look, I'm sorry for just kicking you out like that," he said, taking a step closer to me. "I mean, it wasn't really right of me."

I just stood there, not knowing what to say. Finally, I bit my lip and said, "I'm surprised you found me."

"Actually, more like I stumbled upon you," he said. "Um, glad to see that umbrella worked so well." Obviously he was being sarcastic.

"Yeah, sorry," I simply mumbled. I hoped he understood that I was sorry for more than the fact that I was wet.

"Anyway," Tidus said, "um, I'm not here to make up with you or anything, but I wanted you to have this."

I felt my stomach drop slightly. I part of me had hoped that he had run to find me, to tell me that he hadn't meant to explode and that he would take me back. I closed my eyes, and reminded myself that this was reality, not a dream.

I looked down at his hand then, and noticed that he was holding a white box. It was actually a gray color, however, being that it was soaked with rain.

"I wanted to make us like official," he said slowly, his eyes on mine. "But I guess that won't be necessary. Still, I want you to have this."

I almost wished he'd stop talking. Every word he said hit me harder and harder.

He walked up to me, and put the box in my hand. I took it, but I didn't look away from him. I just stood there, with the box in my hand.

"So are you like leaving today?" he questioned then.

"Probably tomorrow or something," I said softly, and I finally looked away from him. "I have to go back to _The Mode _and get my stuff. And tell Leblanc that I'm not doing the interview. She's probably going to kill me."

Tidus laughed, which brought my eyes back to him in a flash. I wanted to see his smile again.

It was fleeting laughter, however, for as soon as it disappeared, Tidus rolled his eyes and said, "Tell her I said she's a bitch. There, that's the interview. Go ahead and quote it."

I didn't know if he was trying to be funny or not.

"Tell her she ruins everything," Tidus continued, his face growing angrier and angrier by the second. "Tell her I hope she dies."

"That's a little harsh, isn't it?" I mumbled softly.

"Not right now it's not," Tidus said. "Anyway, I have to head back. I guess it was nice knowing you while I did. Or, rather, while I thought I did."

"Tidus!" I cried then, almost pleadingly. "I didn't mean for it to happen like this."

"What, did you want to sneak the interview out of me?" he questioned, and he simply turned away from me. "The whole time, I thought you acted weird because you were hiding a boyfriend. And you were. But that wasn't even the whole story. Which were you more worried about, Yuna? Making sure I didn't find out about the boyfriend, or making sure I didn't find out about your little _Mode _thing?"

Of course, I couldn't answer that. Well, I could, since the answer was definitely _The Mode_, but I didn't want him to know that.

He did know that, though. I knew it.

"Bye Yuna," he said then.

I swallowed, and said, "Bye, Tidus." My words came out chokingly, and I could barely make out the words. If he cared, he didn't show it. He simply walked off, his hands in his pockets, his eyes on the ground.

I watched him go, while staying out of the rain thanks to the umbrella. Then, with a sigh, I held the umbrella up in my arm, and opened the box.

Inside was a beautiful silver necklace with a large Z hanging from it, the same Z that I had seen multiple times around the city. I knew it stood for Zanarkand. There was a note, and I hastily pulled it out, only to feel my heart drop.

It was completely wet and tearing, and the ink had run. I couldn't make out what it said. It was almost as if Tidus had purposely made sure that it was unreadable. I figured he had purposely done just that.

With a very deep sigh, I put the note back in the box and closed it, and slowly walked away from the pier, and back to the road so that I could flag down a taxi. At least I had the beautiful necklace and the destroyed note to remind myself of Tidus forever. Oh, and the plain black umbrella, to remind me of how I spent my first rainy day in Zanarkand, the day that could also very well be my last full day in Zanarkand.


	13. The Thirteenth Floor

Wow, do I suck or what? I just had two chapters to write, and here we are, nearly a month later, and I'm just _now _updating! I'm horrible, aren't I?! Well, I am very sorry. I meant to write this chapter on my way to my vacation destination and have it posted on like the 17th of July. Well... yeah, that didn't happen. Then, my friend from Japan came, on the 18th, and I've been too busy hanging out with her to write! So I started working on this chapter before bed and stuff, and I finally finished it! ...The only problem is, it's super short. Ah. Oh well though, at least it's a chapter, right?! Now I just have to write the ending chapter...

Well, just the same, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 13: The Thirteenth Floor**

"So you're just leaving, just like that?" Dona asked me in a very uncaring way as she watched me pack my suitcase.

"Mmm-hmm," I simply said, as I threw my clothes into the suitcase, not even bothering to fold them.

Dona laughed. "That sucks. Are you sure you want to just give up like this? I mean, what happened? You had Tidus right where you wanted him. You had it, Yuna. Your dream job was in the hole, you were on the home stretch!"

"I know," I simply said.

"Well, you'll probably be jealous to know that I have a blitzball player lined up to do an interview," Dona said, smiling smugly. "His name's Kiryl. Ever heard of him?"

I stopped my packing as the memory of Tidus' drunken teammate came back into my mind. I simply let out an angry sigh and continued packing. "Nope."

"Leblanc said that although he isn't Tidus, he can at least give us the dirt on Tidus and stuff. Have you told her you're quitting yet?"

"Nope," I said, and this time, I was telling the truth. "I'll tell her tomorrow. And then I'm out of here."

"Tomorrow's when I'm doing my interview," Dona said. "Yevon, maybe _I'll _get the job now!"

"I hope you do," I simply murmured.

"That really sucks for you though," Dona continued, her voice nasally and insincere. "After all, you had sex with him and everything."

I stopped what I was doing, and glared at her.

"Tidus and I didn't have sex," I said, very angrily, and shocked at the fact that I was defending myself in a time like this.

"Don't lie, Yuna," Dona said, rolling her eyes. "Face it, you're just his whore."

"I'm not like that," I said, very clearly. "And quite frankly, neither is Tidus."

"Oh, you expect me to believe that?" she said, shaking her head.

I simply ignored her and continued packing.

-

I was sure that I would be riding the elevator to the thirteenth floor for the last time ever in my life. A part of me felt as if it was dying as I watched the dial near the number thirteen, but at the same time, I wasn't about to ride the elevator back down to the main floor. I had made up my mind, and that was it.

My purse was around my shoulder, and inside of it was my printed out ticket back to Bevelle. It was going to be sad to return, but I had to do it. I had to attempt to go back to normal life.

I had talked to Paine the night before, and she assured me that she could talk to Baralai and convince him to give me a second chance. I, however, assured her that I wasn't interested in getting a second chance from Baralai. I didn't love _him_, after all.

Despite my cool, sure exterior though, I was actually moping deep down inside. My body felt empty, as did my mind. I knew what I had to do, and I knew that I had to do it, but I 

wasn't entirely willful. I wanted to run back to Tidus and apologize. I wanted to make everything better between Tidus and me. More than anything.

The elevator finally reached the thirteenth floor, and the blazing white surroundings reached my eye. I found myself smile. I was never one for gaudy decorations.

I quickly walked to the door that led to Leblanc's office and knocked loudly, unlike the timid knocks from before.

"Enter!" I heard Leblanc's voice say happily from within.

I did as such, and swung the door open rather abrasively.

"Ah, Yuna!" Leblanc said, looking at me through large, pink, diamond-studded glasses. "How are you doing? The tabloids have been awfully quiet lately."

I knew that she didn't really care about me. She wanted to know the status of the interview.

"Dona lined up some measly defense man. I told him he was better than nothing, but I won't really run that interview. The only thing I'm interested in is what you have."

"Well Leblanc," I said, giving her a rather smug smile, "I'm afraid to report that I have nothing."

"Excuse me?" Leblanc said, standing up and ripping off her glasses. "What do you mean, you have _nothing_?"

I shrugged and said, "I quit."

"You can't quit!" Leblanc said. "Not now! Yuna, please, let me speak with you. Don't get cold feet. Tidus will appreciate this later, I promise!"

"I'm done with Tidus too," I said.

"What did he do? Think about his money, Yuna! Think about his looks. His body. Everything. You can have all of that, and this job!"

"No I can't," I said, shaking my head. "He's not like his father, Leblanc. And he won't ever be like his father. And I'll never be like you."

"Do you know how hard it is to get such a great job at _The Mode_?" Leblanc cried through closed teeth. "Yuna, think about what you're doing! Think about it! Your talents will all be wasted!"

I rolled my eye, and said, "I'm going downstairs to my cubicle to collect my stuff, and then I'm leaving. I'm leaving tonight."

Leblanc's eyes reached mine, colder than I'd ever seen a pair of eyes in my life. Even colder than Tidus' had been when I'd told him the truth.

"We will get that interview, Yuna. With or without your help. We will somehow get it. You might as well be the one to get the glory! Your professors? I know them all. I'll put in great words for you! And your dream job here at _The Mode_ will be yours! Just like that. You're going to throw all of that away?"

"Easily," I said. "I thank you for everything Leblanc, but I have to go." I gave her a charming smile then, and turned around.

"You're making the biggest mistake of your life!" I heard Leblanc call after me.

"No, I think this is the best thing I've done all summer," I answered, and with that, I smiled at her one more time, and walked quickly out of that room. With my smile still on my mouth, I walked out of her room, determined to never visit the thirteenth floor again.

-

I took the elevator quickly to the basement, where Dona and my crude little cubicals were located. I still had plenty of belongings in my own personal cubical, such as notebooks and the pink recorder that Leblanc had given to us. The recorder that I would have recorded a real interview with Tidus on.

A frown slowly grew on my face. It would have been wondrous, actually, to do a real interview with Tidus. I'd get to sit there across from him, a notebook on my lap, my recorder on the table, recording my sophisticated questions followed by his thought-out answers. Then, I would have thanked him with a stupid smile on my face, and spent the next two days crafting what could be the greatest interview ever written. The job would be mine, Tidus would still be there (after seeing that the interview was wonderfully and tastefully crafted), and life would be excellent. Of course, that's not how it was, and I couldn't spend my time imagining the perfect interview.

I walked quickly toward my cubical, passing Dona's as I did so. I noticed that she was in her area, talking on her phone, but I managed to slip past her without her seeing me. I could hear her muffled voice though as she talked, and I couldn't help but feel like she sounded like she was worried and excited at the same time. I wondered when she was interviewing Kiryl.

I found myself closing my eyes at the thought as I walked into my little cubical, a mixture of happiness and dread filling me at the thought of having to pack my belongings.

I reopened my eyes and let out a gasp. Sitting at my desk and looking through my notebook was Tidus.

"Oh hey Yuna!" he said as soon as he noticed I was there. "What took you so long? I've been here for like fifteen minutes. Your friend Dona is freaking out."

"Tidus," I said, shaking my head at him, "what are you doing here?"

"I've had a change in heart," Tidus said, his face suddenly very serious. He closed my notebook, which was actually blank anyway, and looked up at me. "I'll do the interview, Yuna."

I laughed, and said, "I just told Leblanc I wasn't going to do it. She took it pretty well."

"Well, it's okay, I'll do it," Tidus said, and he reached over to the pink recorder that was on the desk and clicked on the "record" option. "Ask away."

I reached over and turned it off, and said, "No, Tidus. I'm not going to interview you!"

Tidus gave me a slight glare, and pushed "record" again, and said, "Sure you are."

I turned it back off. "No I'm not."

He turned it back on. "Yes, you are."

Back off it went. "No, I'm not."

Again, he turned it back on. "Go ahead and start."

I turned it off, and this time, I swept it off the table and threw it into my purse.

"Tidus, I can't do that to you!" I cried. "It's okay. I'm already over this job and everything. I can't make you do something you don't want to do!"

"But I want to do it!" Tidus said, standing up. "I gave it a lot of thought, Yuna. And, you know, I trust you. I'll do the interview. It's… It's really okay."

"No," I said, shaking my head. "Who knows what Leblanc will do with it. I can't let you do it, Tidus!"

"Yuna," Tidus said, now very serious, "I'm… I really like you. Okay? A lot. And I'm willing to do this, if it means that we can… you know… be together."

He looked sheepish, but I was far too angry to care.

"Tidus, just don't," I said, shaking my head at him, my tone sad. "Please don't do this. I can't make you do it."

"So then what?" he asked me. "You're going to return to Bevelle, back to your old life, your old boyfriend? Just like that?"

"I don't want to," I said, finding that I was getting choked up. "But I feel so bad for everything. I mean, I based our relationship on lies and…" I couldn't finish. Even I hadn't managed to sort out what I had done.

"It's alright," Tidus said, quickly. "It was stupid of me to get all mad about the interview. You're not Leblanc, after all! And, I'm not my father."

It was just what I had told Leblanc.

I stood there in silence, and stared at him, before I finally swallowed loudly, and said, "I can't let you interview."

He opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by Dona, who suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"So, what's going on in here?" she questioned, smiling at us. Behind her, the blitzball player who I had only seen once before appeared. I knew it was Kiryl.

"Well Tidus, what are you doing here?" he asked, sneering at his teammate.

"Better question: what are you doing here?" Tidus sneered back.

"Doing an interview," Kiryl said. "But I thought you were too good for that."

Tidus glared at him, and then glared at me. "Who cares anymore about it?" he just said, shaking his head. "Fine Yuna, if you don't want to interview me, I'll let your friend do it."

With that, he pushed past me, and past the shocked Dona and Kiryl.

"Let's make it quick, before I change my mind!" I heard Tidus' voice say, and I guessed he was heading toward Dona's area. Dona looked at Kiryl, gave me a very pleased smile, and then marched off quickly toward her cubical.

I stared after them, as did Kiryl. How could Tidus do that?

"Wow," Kiryl said after a moment of shocked silence. "I guess he really wanted to do it, huh?"

I glared at him, but couldn't help but feel rather ditched. What was Tidus trying to prove?

"So, um, you want to interview me?" Kiryl asked, looking rather hopeful.

"No, I actually quit," I just said, and I bit my lip softly.

"Oh," Kiryl said. "Well, whatever then." With that, he left my cubical, and I heard the elevator ding, signaling that he must have left.

With that, I sank into my chair, and put my head on the desk. Nothing made sense. I had kind of accepted the fact that Tidus was gone, but that hope of being able to interview him had still remained. And now, Tidus was gone, and Dona of all people was getting that interview.

To say I felt betrayed was an understatement. I felt stupid. I _was _stupid. Just like that, I could have had Tidus _and _the interview. The two most important things to me. I could have easily gotten an explanation from Tidus later, after conducting the interview.

I sighed, and looked at my pink recorder. Maybe it wasn't too late. I would let Dona have that interview, but still, maybe it wasn't too late. A sly smile lit my face. It was only a half-baked plan, but I knew it would work.

In the meantime, I just had to be patient and talk to Tidus and Dona later.


	14. The Recorder

Finally. The last chapter. Again, I really must apologize like whoa for the late update. I am so sorry! But no worries--the story is finished now so you don't have to wait for updates anymore! (Haha, that's mean, huh?)

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 14: The Recorder**

He didn't look very happy. A frown was deep on his face, his eyes shining blandly, the blue color almost gone from his irises. I naturally assumed that his little interview with Dona hadn't gone well.

Either that, or he was frowning thanks to the fact that I had squeezed myself through the closing elevator door to ride with him, despite the fact that I didn't have much time.

"So how'd it go?" I asked him, ignoring the exasperated sigh that he had just let out without bothering to hide it.

"You know, an interview's an interview," he just said, shrugging. He looked at me from the side of his eyes, and he said, "It could have been a little less awkward."

"I told you I wasn't going to do it," I said. "You wouldn't want that. So what was with the change of heart?"

I was hoping he'd answer me immediately. I was hoping that after just spilling his life story to Dona, that he would at least give me one answer to one question. Especially considering that the elevator was going to ding at the main floor at any second.

Instead, he just shrugged, and kept his mouth closed. I had to bite my lip to keep myself from pleading with him. I needed an answer.

Instead of pleading though, I let out an exasperated sigh of my own, and I said, "Did you really want to do that, Tidus? Do you really want that interview published in the next issue of _The Mode_? Written with Dona's name on it?"

The elevator dinged then, and the doors opened. Tidus gave me a strange look, and then started toward the now open door, only to stop. Standing halfway in the elevator and halfway out, his expression changed to confusion, and he said, "Aren't you coming with?"

"No," I said. "There's something I have to do."

To my annoyance, he stood there, keeping the elevator door from closing.

"I don't understand you," he said, after staring at me with his cold blue eyes for some time. "Didn't you read my note?"

His note. I felt my face instantly soften. I hadn't even wondered what he had written, considering the fact that he had been so upset with me. Had there been something of importance on that note?

"I-I couldn't," I managed breathlessly. "The rain ruined it."

If Tidus was one to blush, I knew he would have. In fact, I even saw a little flush of red paint itself onto his cheeks as he turned away from me sheepishly. Of course, I was certain I had only imagined that.

"Oh," he said softly, his head now completely turned away from me.

"Look Tidus, I'll talk to you later," I finally said, and I pushed the button to head back down to where Dona still was.

He stared at me, but then backed out of the elevator, a very blank expression on his face. I ignored him completely, and jammed the close-door button. The doors seemed to close slowly, and I could feel his eyes on me until they had finally closed all the way, and I started to move downward. I couldn't help but feel a small smile grow on my lips. Now I wanted to know what he'd written on that note.

Just as I was growing truly annoyed by the slowness of the elevator, it finally dinged on my floor, and the doors opened. I rushed out quickly, my shoes clicking loudly on the marble floors as I walked toward Dona's cubicle. I walked past her cubicle in a blur without looking in, 

and then into my own. I grabbed my pink recorder, and, while still holding it in my hand, hiding it slightly, I marched into Dona's room, glad she was still there.

She smirked at me as I entered, and I simply smiled sweetly. After all, this was going to be easier than I thought.

-

Complimenting Dona was hard, but I managed. The best part was that she swallowed my poorly conducted compliments without chewing. She believed everything I said, despite the fact that I was certain my eyes were lying.

"Do you want to come with me when I tell Leblanc the good news?" Dona said, and there was no mistaking the evilness in her smile.

"Actually, I do," I said, doing my best to sound sincere.

"Good," Dona said. "I want you to be there when I get appointed editor-in-chief. I just have to play the interview for Leblanc, and she'll be so thrilled that I probably won't even have to write up the interview until tomorrow!"

I smiled, and nodded toward the pink recorder on her desk. "Is that what you used to record him?" I questioned, still smiling sweetly.

Dona picked the recorder up gingerly and nodded. "It sure is," she said. I simply smiled, and tightened my hand around the recorder I was holding. It was just as I'd assumed.

I followed Dona as she led the way out of her small cube, her recorder safely in her hand. The one I had was now in my bag, which I slung over my shoulder as we walked. Into the elevator we went, and it slowly made its way back up to the thirteenth floor, the floor that I had just declared I would never return to. I bit my lip softly, and stole a glance at Dona's radiant face. How was Leblanc going to react toward me?

The elevator finally made its way, and Dona rushed out with me following her quickly. She burst into Leblanc's room without knocking, which surprised me momentarily, but I regained myself and followed her in, shutting the door softly behind me.

Leblanc glanced up at Dona with a very shocked expression on her face, blinked a few times, and tore her glasses off.

"I would very much like it if you knocked, love," Leblanc said, although she didn't necessarily sound angry. "And Yuna, I'm surprised to see you're still here." I noticed she sounded bitter when addressing me.

"Wait until you see what I have!" Dona beamed, ignoring Leblanc's words. She held up the pink recorder that matched mine and said, "Tada!"

Leblanc simply stared at her, unblinking.

Dona looked ready to burst with excitement, and she finally did.

"I just did a twenty minute interview with Tidus!" she squealed.

Leblanc's expression didn't change for a moment, but a smile eventually spread out on her pink lips.

"What are you waiting for?" Leblanc cried then, her excited pitch causing both Dona and myself to jump. "Let me hear it!"

Still beaming, Dona laid the recorder on Dona's desk and quickly hit the play button.

Static was the first thing that was heard. Leblanc looked at the recorder as if it was going to talk directly to her. Dona watched Leblanc, her dark eyes wide with anticipation and excitement as to what Leblanc's reaction would be.

Finally, Tidus' voice floated into the air. _"Ask away."_

Dona smiled widely, and Leblanc smiled back at her. I, meanwhile, was concealing a smile of my own.

There was a click then, followed by Tidus' voice again: _"Sure you are."_ Then, another click. _"Yes, you are." _Click. _"Go ahead and start." _And that was it.

"What is this?" Leblanc asked, her eyes glaring at Dona.

Dona turned to me, and I just returned her look with a confused look as if I was asking the same question that Leblanc was.

"Leblanc, I swear, I just interviewed Tidus…" Dona said, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Well that was his voice," Leblanc said. "What are you doing, messing with me?"

"I'd better go," I said. Dona turned around to face me, but I already started toward the door. Dona, who had to know that I had done something, turned to follow me, only to have Leblanc stop her, by yelling, "Where do you think you're going?"

As soon as I was out of Leblanc's office, I shut the door quickly and ran to the elevator. Luckily for me, the elevator was still at the thirteenth floor, so I could hop right on.

By now my heart was racing. What I had done was very wrong. I smiled though, reminding myself that I hadn't done anything "right" the entire summer.

With that, I pulled the recorder out of my purse. _This _was Dona's recorder. Dona of course had mine. Tidus' interview was in my hands.

If only I had the heart to listen to it.

I also glanced at my watch. I was supposed to be boarding an airship. Obviously that wasn't going to happen. Not yet, anyway.

-

Seeing that I had a few missed calls from him made me feel a little more relieved about my decision. He obviously wanted to talk to me as bad as I needed to talk to him.

I assumed he was home, and when he answered, my assumption was proven correct. He looked neither surprised nor upset that I was there, but instead wore his typical thoughtful expression, his eyes full of thought, despite the fact that I knew I didn't want to know what he was thinking.

"Hey," I greeted him, a small smile on my lips. "I didn't leave."

"Yeah, I see that," he answered, his voice monotone and brief. His eyes examined me as if he was looking for something, and from his expression, I was guessing he didn't find whatever it was.

"May I come in?" I asked, somewhat surprised that I could find my voice. My chest felt constricted, almost as if I was really nervous or choked up, neither of which I was. I wasn't sure what was causing the feeling.

"Sure," he said, his tone a little more high-pitched and excited than it had been previously. "Come on in."

He led me in, and I followed, shutting the door softly behind me. He led me straight to the living room, and took a seat on his couch. I went ahead and took the seat next to him, like I had before.

"So you're probably pretty ticked at me, huh?" Tidus asked.

I laughed. "I have no reason to be ticked at you," I said, a smile on my lips as I faced him.

A slight smile appeared on his face, and he let out a little laugh as well.

"Yeah, but… I wasn't going to do it unless you did it."

"Well, it's not too late," I said, and with that smile still on my face, I pulled out the recorder. Dona's recorder.

Tidus looked at the recorder, and then back at me, and he said, "Yuna… I already gave your friend the interview. She's probably writing it up right now."

"No she's not," I said, and with that, I pushed the play-back button for the first time.

Dona's giggle was the first thing that was heard, followed by her voice: "Thanks so much for letting me do this interview! I don't know what Yuna's deal is—she's being really stupid. But trust me, I will do a much better interview than she ever would!"

Tidus looked at me, his mouth completely agape.

"How…?" he started, but I could tell he couldn't get the words out of his mouth.

"Leblanc gave us matching recorders," I explained. "And Dona wasn't smart enough to realize that I could just exchange mine with hers."

"Wow…" Tidus said, a small, amused smile crawling onto his lips. "You stole your friend's interview?"

"I sure did," I said. "And I can easily delete it and we can start over. Or, if you don't want to do the interview at all…"

Tidus took a deep breath and looked away from me.

"It's not really about the interview…" he said slowly. "It's more about… us…"

"Us…" I repeated the word very slowly, and dragged out the s.

"Yeah, us," Tidus said, his eyes now on me. "It's stupid, isn't it? I mean, I was so… I don't know, pissed off and stuff, you know? I felt used and dumb for just putting all my trust into you, and…"

"Tidus, I'm so sorry!" I said quickly. "But it—."

"I get it now," he said, interrupting me. "It wasn't about the interview."

"No," I said, almost breathlessly. "You believe me, right?"

"I have to," he said, a smile lighting his face. "If you wanted the interview _that _desperately, you would have gotten it from me. I mean, I _came _to you and asked you to let me give it to you! You could have had it. You could be sitting at your computer right now, writing it. But you didn't. You chose me over it, right?"

"Right," I said, my voice still sounding breathless.

"Besides," Tidus continued, ignoring the shocked look on my face, "I talked to my teammates. Yeah, it's cool being all under-cover and stuff, but eventually the money's going to get to us. But if we just do it together, everything would be alright, right? And besides, Kiryl would have done it. Others will eventually follow. So I can't just hold myself back…"

Tidus trailed and looked past me, and licked his lips. Then, with his eyes set straight on mine, he said, "And… I'm not my father."

"And I'm not Leblanc," I said quickly.

"And I'm not married, and I don't have a kid…" Tidus continued.

"And I'm not just looking for popularity," I added.

"And I love you."

His words literally stopped my heart. I blinked a few times, mostly because I didn't know what else to do, and I wanted to make sure I was still living. I couldn't breathe. Right away, I thought to the beginning of summer, when Baralai had said those same words to me. How different that had been from now! When Baralai had told me, all I felt was dread and 

disbelief—well, I was feeling disbelief at Tidus, too, but a more shocked, _glad_ disbelief. Gladness, happiness, bliss… and whatever other synonyms for glad there were!

His blue eyes were on mine, and he was actually wearing a fairly blank expression, much like the expressions he had worn when I first met him. Even so, I could see in his eyes that he was thinking something.

A smile finally found its way onto my lips, and I acted without thinking: I threw my arms around his neck and pulled myself close to him.

"I love you too," I said, my voice barely a whisper. I felt his arms close around my waist, and I closed my eyes. "I always thought I only loved _The Mode _and my stupid dreams, but… well, you proved me wrong."

I felt him smile, and he pulled me even closer, and said, "So now what?"

"Well," I said, slowly, "I would like to know what you had written on that note…"

"I just told you," Tidus said.

I looked up at him, and saw that he was looking down at me, his blue eyes back on mine. Then, I looked back down, and said, "I love the necklace, by the way."

I felt his fingers on my neck, as they wrapped around the delicate silver chain of the necklace that I had hidden under my shirt. He lifted it out and let it fall so that the Z was on my chest, outside of my shirt.

"Well, you won't have to hide it anymore," he said, his smile smug.

"And I won't," I said, smiling up at him.

"So, about the interview…" he said then, and he released me from his grasp. I fell slowly out of the embrace, with a slight frown on my face. I didn't overly want to go back to thinking about the interview that had almost destroyed our relationship.

I forced my frown into a smile though, and held up the pink recorder that had been Dona's. Then, dramatically, I hit the delete button, deleting Tidus' interview.

He looked rather shocked, but I saw a small smile light his face.

"And now," I said, leaning back so that I was sitting slightly on the coffee table in front of the couch, "I will conduct the interview."

Tidus' smile grew, and he grabbed my hand and pulled me back up. Then, he plopped down on the couch, and pulled me down so that I was on his lap.

"Whenever you're ready," he said with a cheeky smile on his lips. He wrapped his arms around my waist and leaned his head on my shoulder.

I laughed, and, while still laughing, asked my first question: "So when did you start playing blitzball…?"

-

"Well, this is very impressive," Leblanc said, laying the three pieces of paper I had handed to her on her desk. She looked up at me through her pink glasses, her pink lips turned into a very pleased smile. "Very impressive. Very nicely written. This issue of _The Mode _is going to fly off of the stands."

"Are you sure it's not trashy enough?" I said, despite the fact that I had promised I wouldn't say anything sarcastic or mean to Leblanc.

Leblanc didn't notice my attempt to slight her, however, and she just smiled and said, "This is perfect, Yuna. Exactly what today's sophisticated young women want to read."

"That's what I was going for," I answered. "So we're going to print it just like that?"

"Just like this," Leblanc said, smiling widely. "Welcome to _The Mode_."

She reached out her hand for me to shake, and I did very quickly.

"We'll discuss all of the formal things later," Leblanc said, her smile still wide. "For now, go ahead and take off the rest of the afternoon to celebrate."

I had been planning on it, since I hadn't really been working anyway, and I stood up, and started toward the door.

"What about Dona?" I asked then, stopping in my tracks.

"She just wasn't what we were looking for," Leblanc said. "She did write up an interview, you know, going from her memory. But yours is far better. Much better written. And let me ask you, Yuna… how has your life changed?"

I smiled. "I learned how to love," I answered.

"That's surprising," Leblanc said. "It doesn't usually work out like that. But I am impressed with you. You tossed away your friends and your life for this."

"Not really for _this_," I said slowly. "More like, for him."

A small smile found its way onto Leblanc's lips, and she said, "In that case, you truly managed to do what I couldn't. I couldn't have both. Tidus and nobody else will ever truly believe this, but I honestly loved Jecht. But, he was already in love with Tidus' mother. Not me at all."

"I think Tidus would appreciate that," I said. "Goodbye Leblanc."

"Goodbye," Leblanc said. With her small smile still on her lips, she turned back to my written interview on her desk, while I gave her a small smile of my own, and left her office.

-

Tidus was waiting for me outside in his car. He watched as I climbed in, a slight smile on his lips as if to ask me how it went.

"Well, I'm now a part of _The Mode_," I said, my smile matching his.

"Great," he said. "You can totally be in charge of all Abe-related interviews."

I laughed. "I never would have thought I'd _want _to cover blitzball stories!"

"And I never thought I'd want to date a prick from Bevelle," Tidus just said, his smile full of jest. "Or that I'd ever want to date…"

I laughed, and said, "Yeah, it's been a pretty crazy summer, hasn't it?"

"Definitely," he said. "I don't think any summer can top this one… in craziness, that is."

"It's too bad it has to end," I said, as I felt my smile disappearing. I had to return to Bevelle in just a week to go back to school, which was something I wasn't looking forward to. I felt my eyes scan the majestic streets of Zanarkand, feeling a little sad.

"Hey, just one more semester, and you're here," Tidus said, his smile much happier than the expression on my face.

"Right," I said. "And I'm coming here every weekend!"

"Don't get too sick of this city!" he warned quickly. "You'll hopefully be spending a lot of years here."

I shot him a knowing smile, and said, "Don't worry, I could never get sick of this city. Not as long as you're here."

Tidus let out a little chuckle, and he said, "I guess this isn't a good time to tell you I got traded to Luca then, is it…?"

I rolled my eyes and said, "Like you'd go there."

He laughed and said, "Damn, I told you that in the interview, didn't I? See Yuna, this is why interviews are bad!"

I just smiled at him, and said, "Don't worry, I didn't print that."

"What? That was my favorite part!" Tidus said. "I was hoping you'd quote me and everything: "Only assholes play for Luca."'

"Too much swearing," I just said, laughing. "Plus, Kiryl might have been offended."

Tidus just laughed. "Dona would have printed it."

"Then it's a good thing she didn't do it," I said, leaning toward him.

"I'll second that," Tidus said, and with that, our lips met, similarly to how they had many times throughout the summer. Only this time, nothing was hovering above me. I was free to kiss him without any dread, any regret… nothing. Just the strange feeling of happiness that twisted in the pit of my stomach.

The strange feeling of happiness that would be there forever more.

* * *

**A/N: **Well, I hoped you liked it! I can't believe it took me so long to finish it... grr... I'm kind of mad at myself about that! I was personally rather fond of it (Well, I still like _Number Thirty-Seven_ and _Combined Yards _more...), and it was fun writing in first-person POV. (Someday, I really want to do a POV from Tidus. Because I love to write him. I really feel like I can do anything with him and still make him at least slightly in character!) But yeah, feel free to leave me a review/PM/whatever! Thank you so much for reading this!

* * *


End file.
